The Rescue Mission
by CrystalMaiden77
Summary: After Eggman, Orbot and Cubot get captured by a GUN affiliate named SWORD, Metal Sonic has to request help from someone he never thought he'd turn to.


It was another normal day for Metal Sonic in Eggman's base, or at least as normal as it could've been. At 7:00 in the morning, the robot hedgehog got out of bed with an annoyed groan, having had difficulty sleeping that night yet again. He sighed wearily before walking out of his bedroom and into a white hallway of the base. His voice sounded similar to Sonic's voice, but with a slightly deeper pitch. Due to the fact that him being the robot best suited to match Sonic meant that Eggman made him his highest-ranking robot, Metal Sonic had always had his own bedroom. But despite being grateful for Eggman providing him with a bedroom of his own, Metal Sonic still wasn't satisfied with being his robot slave. Even after the Metal Overlord incident, Eggman had still not scrapped him, stating that he was his greatest creation, and since there were still benefits to working for Eggman as opposed to being all alone, Metal Sonic had stayed on his side instead of going rogue. But that didn't mean he was happy about it.

As he walked down the hallway reluctantly with a bored and exasperated look on his face, not feeling like flying at the speed of sound because he was too tired at the moment, he saw a gray robot that looked like Knuckles running past him in the hallway giggling happily, turning to face him, and saying energetically, " Hey, bro! Isn't it another _wonderful_ morning?! We're gonna have so much fun today! Bet you can't wait for your daily combat training and smashing up those mechs! Hey, we're both going to the kitchen! Race you! " and running down the hallway again in a gray blur laughing happily while Metal Sonic walked down the hallway with a bored and tired look on his face.

That robot was Metal Knuckles, a robot based off Knuckles that Eggman had created five years ago. Despite technically being a combat robot, he was never sent out to fight. His job was to listen to Eggman's plans and not insult him for them. That was it, and it often left him with large amounts of the day with seemingly nothing to do. Having a job as emotional support for a delusional narcissist who just wanted at least one of his robots to encourage him, rather than having a job that required fighting, caused Metal Knuckles to not be as violent and eager to fight as Knuckles was. It was that, and the fact that Eggman had specifically programmed him to have the personality of a kindhearted ditz to make sure he would be too nice to insult him and his plans. And spending all of his existence surrounded by people to talk to - the other robots in the base - resulted in him becoming a social butterfly who spent all of his time hanging out with Orbot and Cubot and couldn't stand the idea of the lonely isolated existence that Knuckles had to live and grew to prefer.

Despite their being complete opposites in personality, Metal Knuckles and Metal Sonic were like brothers, with the latter feeling a responsibility to protect the former and give him advice, and Metal Knuckles would never hesitate to tell him about his day and try to cheer him up, talking to him about whatever happened to be on his mind at the moment. The two were close friends, and they got along with each other despite their differences.

A minute later, Metal Sonic had sat down at the kitchen table, with his hand on his chin in boredom from knowing what was coming; Eggman doing another long boastful speech about his newest futile plan. The kitchen was very large, with a long rectangular table that one would expect to find in mansions and fancy chairs up against it, with the kitchen counter against the wall to the right of it being full of kitchen utensils. There was a fridge and cupboards in the kitchen, as well as a freezer, all on the right side of the room. Eggman was sitting at the northern end of the kitchen table, waiting for his breakfast of French toast, bacon and scrambled eggs to be served to him by Orbot and Cubot, the robots who, due to being one of the few robots not overspecialized in combat, were always the one who were assigned to do the menial tasks Eggman had needed to get done, whether that was capturing Wisps, or cooking him breakfast. Those robots first met Sonic only months ago, but they had been Eggman's personal assistants for five and a half years; it was only recently that Eggman took them out of the base with him for the first time.

While Cubot and Orbot were skillfully making Eggman breakfast, Metal Sonic was sitting in the chair to the right of Eggman from Eggman's perspective - being his right-hand man and all - and Metal Knuckles was sitting to the left of Eggman from his perspective. Since Metal Sonic, Metal Knuckles, Orbot and Cubot all had the " honor " of Eggman telling them his every futile plan and invention on a regular basis, it was clear that they were the highest-ranking robots in the base. But aside from having to listen to Eggman's boastful speeches every day, having their own bedrooms and better job security, they didn't really get any benefits from it. They didn't have any real power, with even Metal Sonic, the second-in-command, having to give out orders in secret, because Eggman was such a control freak that he couldn't handle his robots doing something he didn't order them to do.

Eggman cleared his throat, and exclaimed in his usual hammy way, " Listen up! My _latest plan_ is going to be one where almost _all_ of you are going to participate! " He opened up a rolled-up piece of paper and showed it to everyone by holding it high above his head while standing up, and explained passionately,

" Today, I am carrying out a plan against an organization I have never attacked before! We are all aware of how many plans I've carried out against GUN, but never until today have I been able to attack the organization affiliated with them ever before! You see, GUN wasn't always dominating the world with its influence and military might. Back in the Cold War, there was an equally powerful opponent of it with the acronym of, ' SWORD. ' While GUN is stationed in the United Federation, SWORD is stationed in Holoska, and back in the Cold War, it did everything it could to try to bring every country it could under communist rule. My grandfather used to work for them as their top engineer back in the Robotnik homeland, but when he discovered the full extent of their corruption, they came after him after everything he had done for them! He defected to GUN - we all know how _that_ turned out - and warned his children in the United Federation of how evil SWORD really was. Much like GUN, it was _extremely_ self-righteous, and _extremely_ power hungry and _corrupt._ When I was told about it by my parents growing up, I vowed to make them pay for what they did to my grandfather, but I could never find their base. Until yesterday, when one of my robots _finally_ located where that base is! It's in the middle of Siberia in the east of Holoska, and I'm going straight there to make them _pay_ for what they _did!_ I'm going to steal their weaponry and robots to make them defenseless and take their documentation and prove to the world once and for all what they did to my grandfather, how _they_ were the ones who drove him to GUN, how _they_ were the ones responsible for Gerald Robotnik's attempt to destroy the world! THE ROBOTNIK NAME WILL FINALLY BE REDEEMED! I'm going there in my airship with a massive robot army and with you three at my side - Orbot, Cubot, and Metal Knuckles - because this is the _perfect_ opportunity for you to witness my greatness! "

Metal Sonic looked annoyed and complained with his arms crossed, " Why can't I come? You said so yourself that I am the most powerful robot in the world. If so, there is _no_ logical reason why I should be expected to stay here. " He was also concerned that Metal Knuckles, Cubot and Orbot were going to get damaged or worse by being forced to come along on such a dangerous mission, but he chose not to express it to avoid looking weak.

Being used to his robot's belligerence, Eggman explained, " Well, SOMEONE has to be in charge of running the base while I'm gone! And who better than my second in command? " Metal Sonic sighed wearily. He had experience with trying to run the base because of the Metal Overlord incident, and he remembered hating all the paperwork and micromanagement that was required. It stole all of his free time and just made him even more stressed out than he already was. He didn't want to have to go back to doing that, hating the workload and the responsibility, but if his idiot boss ordered him to, he didn't have a choice. " Fine, " he said in annoyance, looking down at the floor away from Eggman.

Cubot and Orbot made no reaction to the plan, being used to being brought with Eggman on his plans by this point. Meanwhile, Metal Knuckles looked excited and intrigued about going on a mission with Eggman for the first time, even if all he was expected to do was give him emotional support and do minor non-combat tasks like Cubot and Orbot, but he couldn't help but feel sorry for Metal Sonic. He was the most powerful robot in the base and he was reduced to doing paperwork. He didn't even have any real power during this mission, he was just expected to tell the robots to resume business as usual and not make any changes at all.

After he was finished his abnormally large breakfast, Eggman told Metal Sonic, " Now, this mission is going to be a long and dangerous one. So if I'm not back in 72 hours, go straight to the base for a rescue mission! Chances are, if I'm not home in three days, it means I've been imprisoned, and so have the robots I've brought with me. " He handed him the piece of paper with his plans on it, which included a map that showed where in the world SWORD's base was, and told him sternly, " Don't make any changes when you're running the base for me. Just tell every robot here to resume business as usual. Keep up your daily combat training so your skills won't get rusty and your stress level won't go through the roof. I don't need another incident! "

With that, he left for the airship with Metal Knuckles, Cubot and Orbot following him, leaving Metal Sonic in the kitchen alone with a piece of paper in his metallic hands. He sighed wearily when they left the room, hoping they would be okay and not looking forward to all the work he was going to have to do. He hated micromanagement; despite feeling like he knew best for everyone around him and being good at figuring out what others should do and the best course of action for everyone, he hated the stress and responsibility of managing an entire base with thousands of robots inside it. He was a perfectionist when it came to that, and every mistake and everything that went wrong for him felt like an error to be ashamed of.

As the days went by, it was becoming increasingly difficult for him to hide that he was getting anxious at them being gone. His stress level was increasing, and he kept worrying that something had happened to them, that they weren't coming back, that he was never going to see them again. He couldn't care less about Eggman, but the three robots he brought with him were important to him. They understood him, they liked him unconditionally for who he was and respected him for his skills and personality; the other robots in the base admired and idolized him, but it was clear that they only liked him for his skills, merely tolerating his personality. But Cubot, Orbot and Metal Knuckles understood his personality and why he had developed it in the first place. They knew who he was and they respected him for it, coming to him for advice and listening to his complaints with sympathy and even talking with him about whatever was on their minds at the moment. They were his friends, and in a world where most people hated and feared him, he valued them more than anything. So as the possibility that they were gone forever started becoming more likely to him, he became more and more anxious as the days went by.

Three days after Eggman had left, he woke up hours later than he usually did. He had been woken up at midnight by nightmares and managed to get back into sleep mode, and this caused him to sleep in the next morning. So by the time he had woken up that day, 76 hours had passed since Eggman left the base. 76 hours, and he still wasn't back yet.

As soon as Metal Sonic realized this, he was understandably worried, and freaked out the instant he figured it out. The ones he cared about the most, and Eggman, were imprisoned in a base in Siberia, and he was expected to rescue them. But how? How could he do that?

As he left his bedroom and went into the kitchen, he started pacing back and forth trying to come up with an answer. He had not been given a concrete plan for how to rescue Eggman because the man was so certain he wouldn't have to be rescued. He wasn't given permission to get reinforcements like another robot army to attack the base, and even if he was... would he still succeed?

Metal Sonic sighed and thought in annoyance, " _With my luck, I'd never be able to rescue them. It doesn't matter that I'm the most powerful robot in the world, something would go wrong. What am I supposed to do? It doesn't matter how skilled I am if the odds are against me! With all of the times I've lost to Sonic the Hedgehog, how could I possibly say I have the luck required to complete this mission without getting captured or destroyed?... Wait a minute... Sonic the Hedgehog? He's the luckiest person in the world! He has to be to have survived trillions of attempts on his life! When he sets out to achieve something important, he always succeeds! The probability is at 100%, and all of the empirical evidence point to it. If Sonic was the one who tried to do this, he'd succeed without any problems... But I have to be the one to do it. My idiot boss is expecting me to rescue him, not that juvenile hedgehog, and if he found him instead of me there... Oh, great. It is starting to look like the only way I could successfully complete this mission would be to request Sonic's help... Requesting Sonic's help? Someone who hates me? Someone who regards me as an enemy? Someone I can't look weak in front of?! What do I do?! What do I say?!_ "

It didn't take long for him to go from annoyed to panicking, overwhelmed with anxiety over the prospect of having to get help from his sworn enemy to rescue his comrades. It would be humiliating, and if Sonic said no, he was never going to be able to rescue them. In order to make sure the mission would be completed successfully, he had to think of what to say that would convince Sonic to work with him. But just thinking about going up to Sonic the Hedgehog and trying to convince him to help him in a mission was filling him with anxiety and nervousness.

This would be taking a huge risk, which was something he wasn't exactly fond of doing. There were so many things that could go wrong, and he couldn't stand the thought of anything going wrong and ruining his only chance of rescuing his comrades successfully. He would have to plan out ahead of time exactly what to say to Sonic, what his body language would be, the emotions he would express and bottle up, and everything else, all in a calculated effort to ensure that Sonic would agree to help him, that he would trust him not to lure him into a trap and trust that he was telling the truth. And that was assuming he would let him say anything in the first place. Chances are, he would attack him the instant he saw him, not letting him say a word to him before it happened. How could he ensure that Sonic would not only listen to him and agree to help him, but also not attack him on sight?

He couldn't help but be incredibly reluctant about the idea of asking for his lifelong enemy's help. He didn't want to look pathetic by going up to him asking for help and basically admitting that he couldn't do it alone, as well as heavily implying that he genuinely cared about someone other than himself, and thus look like he had gone soft. He also knew it would be awkward working with him, because he wouldn't be accepted, trusted, or liked by the ones he would be surrounded by, and would have to keep any complaints, annoyance, insults and sarcasm to himself so as not to risk Sonic getting angry with him and kicking him out of the group or no longer helping him. He had to at least help save his comrades, since it was his personal responsibility to do so, being the most powerful robot and all, and the only way he could ensure that he would be the one doing the saving would be by being quiet and well-behaved around Sonic, as opposed to pushing his luck and risking losing his only way to succeed or succeed the way he would need to; Eggman would be furious with him if he found out he was saved by someone other than the one he entrusted the mission to. Metal Sonic couldn't help but find it humiliating that he would have to rely on his enemy's help and behave around him, and hoped that he wouldn't no longer be thought of as a powerful opponent by Sonic because of him going to him for help. But he still had to get his help, whether he liked it or not.

As Metal Sonic panicked over trying to think up a solution, he anxiously paced back and forth in the kitchen nervously for several minutes, so focused on thinking of what to say to Sonic that he didn't even notice a robot bringing a milkshake made especially for Eggman to the kitchen counter in preparation for his return, looking at him in concern and sympathy, and leaving the room quietly. Metal Sonic was so focused on trying to think of what to say and all the things that could go wrong, that he ended up accidentally spilling the drink on the kitchen counter, causing him to gasp at seeing the result. Knowing he would get in trouble if Eggman saw the drink spilled on the counter, he got out a cleaning spray and a wet washcloth and started cleaning the kitchen counter immediately. Cleaning the counter helped to calm him down by providing a distraction from his worries and allowing him to feel like he was accomplishing something by correcting an error. As he cleaned the kitchen counter, rubbing the wet washcloth over the stain and the counter as a whole, he thought, returning to paying complete attention to figuring out what to say,

" _Okay, Metal, think. What can I say to Sonic that will convince him to trust me to work with him?... Alright, first, I'll give him the piece of paper with Eggman's plans on it before saying a single word to him. That way, not only will I prove the validity of my claims, but I will ensure that Sonic won't attack me on sight, because he'll understand that no robot would give him a piece of paper detailing what Eggman was planning on doing days ago if he was just about to attack him. I'll give him the piece of paper, and simultaneously, I'll tell him I'm not there to fight him. Both of those actions will surprise and confuse Sonic enough that he'll presumably be rendered speechless and not want to attack me at the moment. He'll see the plans and the unusual way I'm behaving and it will pique his curiosity, causing him to want to listen to my explanation. I'll tell him what the idiot scientist's plans were and how I was supposed to come rescue him and the three robots from SWORD's base if they didn't return in 72 hours. I'll explain to him that I'll be requesting his help because my luck is insufficient for carrying out the mission successfully regardless of my skill, making teaming up with him necessary for the mission's completion. That way, he won't think I doubt my own skills and thus won't think I'm pathetic for being unsure of myself - not that I am, I mean. After that, Sonic will probably question why he is expected to want to rescue the idiot, and I'll explain to him why he would personally benefit from doing so, reminding him of how his saving the world gets him reward money that he can live off of and brings excitement to his life, and if Eggman wasn't threatening the world, he wouldn't have to save it, meaning that he wouldn't be given the benefits of saving it. Surely Sonic will want to deny that he's that selfish, despite the fact that literally everyone has selfish motivations and no good deed can be selfless, but I will not try to debate him, because it would only derail things and I will need to stay focused on convincing him. After I tell him how he would benefit from rescuing the idiot, I will have to tell him that working with me won't be as bad as it will probably seem to him. I will tell him that I'll do what he says and refrain from insults and arguing with him, because it would only risk the alliance and waste what precious little time I have._ "

He had finished cleaning the stain off the kitchen counter rather quickly, but he was so focused on thinking about what he was going to say to Sonic that he didn't notice, and had proceeded to clean the entire kitchen counter absentmindedly. He sighed wearily at his thinking ending briefly; the entire kitchen counter was now sparkling clean, and that, along with him thinking up a concrete plan for what to say to Sonic, helped calm him down. He put the now empty drink cup in the sink, hid the washcloth, and thought,

" _I just hope he'll agree to help me. Because if he doesn't, who else could I turn to? The second best choice would be Shadow. While he is most certainly more powerful and intelligent than Sonic and superior to him in every aspect, he's also a lot more untrusting and cynical, and while that is usually a good thing because it makes one wise, it unfortunately makes the chances of him trusting me and agreeing to help me very low. If Sonic doesn't agree to help me, I'll have no one else to turn to who I could rely on to help me. I keep hearing that Knuckles is gullible, but it seems to me to be the other way around; if he turns on Sonic such a vast quantity of times, he can't possibly trust him, and if he doesn't even trust his own friend, how could I expect him to trust me, when he doesn't even trust Sonic? And Tails would never help me without Sonic there to protect him just in case, and the probability of him not being irrationally afraid that I'll harm him despite everything I'll say to him will be extremely low. So it's either Sonic, or Shadow. I can only hope that Sonic will agree to help me. If even one thing doesn't go as planned, it could be catastrophic! What if he's not home when I show up? What if he distracts me while I'm reciting my speech to him and I forget what I was going to say? What if he thinks I'm pathetic from seeing me not act menacing towards him like I usually do? What if... No! No! I just calmed myself down, I can't get myself worked up again! It's bad enough I'm anxious about requesting his help now, and I refuse to look that pathetic in front of Sonic the Hedgehog! I will not leave the base until I calm myself down!_ "

He went through in his head what exactly he was going to say to Sonic to get his help one more time to make sure he wouldn't forget it. He could only hope that saying all of that would convince Sonic to help him, showing him how much saving his comrades meant to him to the point where he would do anything for it. He sighed wearily, having calmed himself down with a concrete plan in mind, and flew out of the base to find Sonic, keeping what he had planned to say in mind and hoping things would turn out the way he predicted.

Three days ago, in a heavily guarded base in Siberia, four handcuffed prisoners were being forced to walk down the white halls of the base with soldiers walking behind and in front of them holding tasers in their hands. Eggman, Metal Knuckles, Cubot and Orbot were brought down the halls and into a room that was a small office, with a large black desk with a white computer on it, and a black spinner chair on the other side of it. The chair spun around to face Eggman after the soldiers closed the door, revealing a gray-haired balding man with black sunglasses and a black suit with his arms crossed looking at him disapprovingly. From the way everyone saluted him, it was clear that he was the leader of SWORD. There were a few soldiers in the room, as well as several SWORD agents dressed in black suits, with half of them being female. " Dr. Eggman, we've been expecting you... " he said resentfully, in a disapproving tone. He glared at the prisoners standing in front of him, noticing their facial expressions; Metal Knuckles, Cubot and Orbot looked scared and nervous, in direct contrast with their master, who glared right back.

Instead of being afraid or intimidated, Eggman exclaimed angrily, " How did you know I was coming?! Did you and GUN exchange information?! Did you send your surveillance bots after me?! I never revealed to Sonic that SWORD even existed! How on Earth did you know I was planning an attack?! "

The man said resentfully, " _You're_ not the one who will be asking the questions. As you may have already determined, I am the leader of SWORD. And unlike the leader of GUN would do, I am _not_ _only_ going to imprison you. " Metal Knuckles, Orbot and Cubot looked confused and scared at hearing that, while Eggman became even more angry and bewildered than before.

" What?! You aren't simply going to interrogate me?! What else are you going to do?! I demand an answer! " Eggman exclaimed, wishing he wasn't handcuffed and held by a soldier so he could slam his fist onto the desk dramatically.

The leader of SWORD explained, " Allow me to explain. SWORD and GUN have had a strong alliance since the fall of the Berlin Wall, exchanging information and weaponry with each other, with GUN being the dominant force in the alliance. However, that wasn't always the case. In fact, the reason SWORD formed in the first place was as the Holoskan government's response to the rise of GUN at the start of the Cold War, and the two agencies have spent most of their existences as equally powerful enemies. By the time the Cold War had ended, our agency had realized that they were wrong. We were wrong for opposing GUN. Because of this, we at SWORD felt so much _guilt and regret_ about what we did in opposing them that we _dedicated_ ourselves to making up for our mistakes by being an agency of good! You are an evil mad scientist, while we are the _epitome_ of _righteousness._ " While Orbot and Metal Knuckles looked curious and intrigued by the history lesson and Cubot seemed to not be listening, Eggman groaned and complained, " ' Good, ' yeah, right! There is _nothing_ I _hate_ more than self-righteousness! "

The leader of SWORD rolled his eyes, although no one could see it behind the sunglasses, and continued, " We are an agency of justice. Unlike you, we and GUN build robots and weaponry for the purposes of helping humanity and protecting the world from threats of all kinds. But there's something that sets us apart from GUN, and that is our dedication to justice. There is nothing that matters _more_ to us than carrying out justice, and we will go to _any_ lengths and do _anything at all_ for the greater good. Our influence doesn't dominate the world like GUN; in fact, these days, the current generation doesn't even remember who we are. These days, GUN has to be careful what it does, despite how good its intentions are, because it's constantly in the public eye. But we, Dr. Eggman, do not have that problem. We can go to any lengths and stop at nothing to do the right thing and go to the greatest of extremes, and as long as we keep sending GUN weapons, intelligence and machinery, everything will be perfectly fine. We don't have to be bothered with people saying we're _too_ extreme and _too_ heavy-handed and saying we've gone too far, and because of this, our dedication to doing what is right, _greatly_ _exceeds_ that of _any_ other agency on the globe... And that brings up the question of you, Dr. Eggman... What are we planning to do with you? "

Now he was looking scared. Eggman gasped with a look of dread on his face, and stammered while panicking, " N-Now, just wait a second, here! Y-Y-You aren't planning to kill me, are you?! " The leader of SWORD chuckled, and said resentfully, " No. Unlike you, we won't stoop to that level. What we're going to do, Eggman, is _improve_ _the_ _world._ You see, while you are a very capable engineer, you have never once used your high intelligence to do anything good. You build robots and weaponry, but instead of using them to do righteous things like giving criminals what they deserve, you use them in your attempts to take over the world and run it as you see fit. Because of this dedication to your megalomaniacal obsession, your skills and intelligence are wasted, and the world is a far worse place because of it. In your entire time on this planet, you have never _once_ done _anything_ with your engineering skills to improve the world or assist it. " Eggman insisted in frustration, " N-Never once?! I FIXED THE GODDAMN MOON! "

" After blowing it up, " the leader deadpanned. There was a silence. " ONLY IN HALF! " The leader rolled his eyes and continued, " The way you are acting right now, your intelligence is wasted and the world is continuously put in jeopardy. However, if we found a way to solve _both_ problems, the world would be safe and be _vastly improved_ as a result! Which is why I am pleased to tell you that I have found the solution at last! You see, the scientists of SWORD have come up with a method of altering an individual's brain chemistry to very exact specifications using a special serum. Because of this, these scientists will be able to change you completely from a sociopathic megalomaniac, to our BENEVOLENT ENGINEER! It'll be like having Gerald Robotnik _back on our side!_ Only _this_ time, we _won't_ have to deal with him defecting to GUN to escape communist Holoska, because you won't be able to _choose_ to _do_ that! You'll spend the rest of your life here in our base, making things in our lab, and there won't be a thing you can do about it! The world will be SAFE! No longer will the world have to deal with you attacking cities like Station Square with giant mechs and robot armies simply to bait Sonic into fighting you! No longer will you endanger innocent people and attempt to ruin their lives with your plans of world domination! No longer will the world cower in fear of the next _extremely_ _dangerous_ _monster_ you attempt to control! Nothing like the tragedy of the Station Square Flood is _ever_ happening _again._ All I need is your DNA sample and a couple of days to make the serum, and justice will prevail! _No longer_ will anyone _abuse_ the _Chaos Emeralds,_ and it will be because of us! We're going to make up for the Cold War by SAVING THE WORLD, and there's nothing that anybody can do about it! "

Eggman gasped, frightened and panicked. Now he knew things were getting serious. " THIS IS MADNESS! You're going to rip away my free will, and BRAINWASH ME INTO WORKING FOR YOU?! You _call_ _that_ _justice?!_ Sonic would NEVER approve of this! " he exclaimed, unable to believe what was happening as Metal Knuckles, Cubot and Orbot looked nervous and creeped out. Suddenly, the soldier holding him quickly ripped out a strand of hair from his head and handed it to a soldier behind him. " OW! " Eggman cried out angrily, and gasped at realizing what that meant.

The leader of SWORD rolled his eyes and said, " We _expected_ you and GUN to not be supportive of this. We _anticipated_ people not understanding how dire the situation is and not understanding how important it is that the problem of people abusing the Chaos Emeralds gets fixed, simply because everyone is used to the way things are now. Everyone has fallen into the trap of thinking that simply because there are dedicated ' heroes ' that always foil your plans, that there is no reason to stop the plans from ever happening again. We knew that people would be accusing us of ' going too far ' to do the right thing, which was exactly why we didn't tell Sonic. You see, Eggman, the thing about Sonic the Hedgehog is that as much of a hero as he is for fighting against you, he doesn't truly _fix_ the problem he claims to solve. He'll destroy your evil robots and dangerous machines and get the Chaos Emeralds out of your clutches _multiple_ _times,_ but he'll always stop just short of doing anything at all to prevent any further plans of yours from ever again transpiring. If anything, Sonic personally benefits from you being a dangerous menace, because his life would stop being exciting if you weren't a villain, and eventually he would stop getting benefits to being a hero like tax exemption and reward money that allow him to not have to get a job with a wage. The problem of your dangerousness is like a weed that infests the garden of the world; while Sonic is content to simply pluck out the weed and eagerly wait for it to grow back, _we_ want to rip it out by the roots. What sets us apart from Sonic is that he'll refuse to rid the world of you out of a misplaced sense of self-righteousness, despite the objective fact that it would make the world a better place, while we see that doing good is more complicated than a teenager like Sonic can understand. Sometimes to do the right thing, you have to do things that will upset some people. Sometimes you have to ' shoot the dog, ' for the sake for the greater good, and while people may disagree with you and say you've gone too far, it is worth it in the end if it means making the world a better place than it was before you did it. Sonic's not the _only_ hero this world could have. As useful as he's been, he's too soft, and his _young_ and _overly_ _emotional_ mind has meant that he hasn't carried out a permanent solution. That's why we have taken it into our own hands, as _our_ responsibility, to be the _heroes_ of this planet, by _saving_ _it,_ from _ever_ being threatened by you again! So we don't care if you think we're evil! We know we're exactly the opposite! We're the heroes of this world, and we'll stop at nothing to save it! " The leader smiled eagerly, incredibly happy and proud of himself, while Eggman and his robots cringed and looked him at him nervously.

At that point, all of the soldiers and SWORD agents in the room saluted and recited the SWORD pledge passionately. " For truth! And JUSTICE! We won't let anyone stand in its way, for _heroism,_ and righteousness! WE ARE ALWAYS RIGHT! " The leader of SWORD said, " Exactly! And you will do well to remember that, Eggman! As for the army of robots you brought here; we'll have them repaired and then upgraded and reprogrammed to work for us! "

Scared and trembling, Metal Knuckles timidly stammered, " Um, s-s-sir?... W-W-What about us? " being as polite as he could, hoping his sudden question wouldn't annoy the man. The man looked at the gray robot with a surprised and intrigued expression. Not only had this robot spoken to him, and in a voice that sounded like Knuckles except higher and more ditzy and innocent-sounding, but the robot also seemed to speak just like a non-robot would, with his behavior, body language and speech being rather lifelike and human. The leader smiled and thought, " _Eggman had actually done an impressive job with this one! He's certainly a lot more lifelike than that Metal Sonic, or so I've heard..._ "

The man said with a smile, " Of course, I've had a plan for you three as well! You shall be interrogated for all the information you have in separate rooms at the same time that Eggman is! And we will find out what you're all useful for to see if we can benefit from reprogramming you! _You_ in _particular_ seem useful to our side, since you possess the same abilities Knuckles has, and appear to be more well-mannered than he is, making you more likely to obey us as a result. As for Cubot and Orbot, I have reason to believe for now that as they are incapable of fighting because they are nothing more than Eggman's personal assistants, they will soon have _served_ _their_ _purpose_. Because of this, I may order them to be dismantled. "

Metal Knuckles, Cubot and Orbot gasped and looked frightened, and Metal Knuckles begged him desperately, " NO! PLEASE DON'T KILL THEM! They're my FRIENDS! " which surprised and intrigued the man even more. Why would Metal Knuckles be upset that robots who weren't him were in danger of being put down? Had Eggman given him empathy? Why did he call them his friends? And why did the robot say the word kill instead of dismantle?

Eggman rolled his eyes and said in annoyance, " Now, _Metal Knuckles,_ what have I told you about referring to my creations as _alive?_ It's not ' kill, ' it's ' dismantle. ' I _don't_ _know_ _why_ you're getting so _worked_ _up_ over such incompetent _fools._ It must be all that time I let you spend doing the chores with them out of boredom! It's gotten you too attached! You're _robots,_ not _people,_ you can't be ' killed. ' Your lives can't be worth anything if you don't possess any to begin with. " He then returned to looking at the leader of SWORD in annoyance, not noticing Orbot and Cubot looking at him offended with frustration and exasperation, or Metal Knuckles looking at him with an incredibly sad but resigned expression on his face. It was clear that none of the robots agreed with the notion that they weren't alive in their own way, and disliked, yet were used to, the fact that Eggman only thought of his creations as machines programmed to do what he wanted. Unfortunately for the robots, the leader of SWORD agreed with Eggman completely on this, being prejudiced against robots just like he was. He stood up and said authoritatively, " Soldiers! Send these four to their assigned cell. They will be there until it is time for interrogation! "

The soldiers saluted him and forcibly led Eggman and his robots out of the room, down the white hallway leading to their cell. Eventually, the soldiers reached a large white metal door, caused it to open automatically with a retina scan that identified who they were, and brought them into a large, dark and empty white room, shutting the door behind them and leaving them alone. They unhappily looked all over the room and found no method of escape from it; there were nothing but walls, a ceiling, and a floor made of metal surrounding them. The room had no air duct that could be escaped through; the air came in from underneath the door. The metal walls, ceiling and floor were indestructible and could not be so much as dented by Metal Knuckles' hitting against them even if he tried. The situation looked bleak, and there was a silence as Eggman sat on the floor angrily with his arms crossed while everyone else looked melancholic.

The silence was interrupted when Metal Knuckles started to smile, and said with hope in his eyes, " Don't worry, everyone! We'll all be okay! " causing everyone to look at him with the exact same expressions as before. He giggled childishly, and Eggman asked in mild annoyance, " And why do you think that is? " Metal Knuckles continued to smile, his golden eyes full of innocence and happiness, with a naive but powerful hope that could not be extinguished by a thing.

" We don't have to worry about that scary stuff! Metal Sonic is coming to SAVE US ALL! " he said optimistically, with a great big smile on his face that showed the amount of faith he had in him. Eggman's eyes widened in realization when he heard this, and he finally remembered the mission he gave Metal Sonic just in case. He had told him that if he didn't return in 72 hours, he was to storm the base and rescue his master. And when 72 hours passed, that was just what he was going to do. He wasn't sure how much time he had left before the serum was completed, but the knowledge that he could be rescued beforehand gave him hope. And it gave Orbot and Cubot hope, too. As a result, while Eggman, Orbot and Cubot seemed unsure and uneasy at first, it was only a few seconds before they started to cheer up, with Eggman smiling at last from the knowledge that he would be safe.

Eggman replied with a smile, " You're right. In 72 hours, he'll realize we aren't coming back on our own, and he'll find a way to rescue us just like I ordered him to! With the most powerful robot in the world fighting against them, they'll have an extremely difficult time keeping us imprisoned! They won't have a chance. " He chuckled in satisfaction, smirking evilly. " SWORD thought they could out-predict me! But I'm one step ahead of them... "

Little did he know that the room he was in was bugged. The major reason the cell was kept so dark, aside from saving money on lighting, was to make it harder to see the tiny white microchips that blended into the corners of the walls. Those microchips possessed small microphones and cameras that recorded everything in the cell. And the SWORD intelligence agents had heard exactly what had been said. At that very moment, several of them were in front of a gigantic computer screen showing the cell on the other side of the base, sitting in spinner chairs in front of a desk with a lot of buttons.

The man sitting in the middle chair said quietly with a shocked and nervous tone, " _Metal_ _Sonic_ is coming _here?_ " The blond man to the right of him commented nervously, " Most powerful robot in the world? I know he's based off Sonic, but... is he _really_ _that_ _much_ of a _threat?_ " The skinny muscular brunette woman beside him added, " You'd expect the most powerful robot to be 50-feet tall, not the same size as Sonic. Then again, it couldn't pay to underestimate him. That would make us sitting ducks! You can never be too prepared! "

The woman with her black hair in a bun to the left of him stated with a serious expression, " Alert the rest of the base! Fortify the perimeter! We need to be sure that we have every single weapon and robot ready to be used against him. The robots of Dr. Eggman must be reprogrammed, fixed and upgraded to the best possible standards with the amount of time and resources we have! We have at least 72 hours to make the necessary preparations! Send the message to everyone in the base! We can't let that robot stop our plans! " All of the agents pledged, " For TRUTH! And JUSTICE! We won't let anyone stand in its way! For heroism! And righteousness! WE ARE ALWAYS RIGHT! "

Meanwhile, Sonic was in the Mystic Ruins, lying on the ground napping with his arms under his head and a smile on his face. He loved nature, and while he was usually all about running, it was environments like this that made him appreciate standing still.

His thoughts were interrupted when all of a sudden, he heard what seemed like the sound of metal feet walking towards him, and stood up from the ground. He was confused; the sound clearly belonged to a robot, and one of Eggman's robots no doubt, but if the robot was going to attack him, why was it just walking towards him calmly? Wouldn't it rush up to him at high speed instead? Confused and curious, as well as instinctively feeling suspicious and wary, Sonic slowly turned around to see what was coming up to him, and was shocked at seeing Metal Sonic walk up to him holding paper in his right hand, with a serious expression on his face that seemed to have a hint of worry and stress to it.

Before Sonic could react or say a word in response, Metal Sonic gave him the piece of paper instantly, with the worry in his eyes seeming to increase momentarily, and lifted his arms up with his black palms facing him in a disarming gesture while saying with a serious tone, " I'm not here to fight you, " at a quicker speed than was usual; was he nervous? Sonic wondered this, but his eyes immediately fixated on what was drawn and written on the piece of paper Metal Sonic had given to him. From the title alone, it was clearly a piece of paper containing Eggman's plans; and from the date right beside it, the plans had been scheduled to be carried out three days ago. Now Sonic was really confused. First, Metal Sonic walks up to him calmly instead of rushing at him and attacking him, then he gives him a piece of paper with Eggman's plans on it and says he's not here to fight him? Sonic was wary, but he was also overwhelmed with curiousity, so rather than attacking him or even saying anything antagonistic or insulting, Sonic decided to stay quiet and listen to what he had to say. After all, judging from Metal Sonic's strange behavior, this could be important. Metal Sonic was now standing in front of him with his arms crossed, with his eyes looking at the ground and his body language being slightly fidgety, almost as if he was acting awkward about conversing with him.

Metal Sonic explained to him in a serious tone, " 76 hours ago, Dr. Eggman left with an army of robots to take weaponry and information from the heavily guarded base of a Siberian GUN affiliate called SWORD, bringing Orbot, Cubot, and Metal Knuckles along with him. He stated that if he hadn't returned in 72 hours, my mission was to leave for the base and rescue him and the others, who would have been captured by SWORD and imprisoned. The base is heavily guarded, with hundreds if not thousands of armed soldiers in it, anti-aircraft weaponry, _electrified_ walls, and a security system that all combine to make it seem almost impenetrable. Due to this, it seems that even I may have difficulty infiltrating it alone without being captured or destroyed, and my life experiences have taught me that the amount of luck I possess is insufficient for setting out to do something so risky and life-threatening without assistance. The _only_ _one_ with the amount of skills and luck who could achieve this without injury, is _you._ It may be against protocol for me to request your help when I was specifically ordered by my idiot boss to go on the mission alone, but if it ensures the mission's success, I have no other choice. "

Sonic couldn't believe it. Metal Sonic was acting completely different from how he remembered him. He had come up to him explaining to him his mission, telling him that he couldn't do it alone and he needed the help of his greatest enemy in order to carry it out. While he did have his arms crossed to show him that he wasn't letting his guard down, Sonic was feeling nothing but shock and curiousity, intrigued by how Metal Sonic was acting. He was actually being humble and asking for his help? He was saying that he was too unlucky to survive a dangerous mission, rather than being arrogant and cocky and assuming he'll come through it unscathed? He was actually asking for his help and clearly trusting him to help him? Sonic was filled with questions, and only refrained from asking them because the robot might have more to say. Why was Metal Sonic acting more human? Why wasn't he acting like the intimidating evil robot he always knew him to be? Was this his true self, the side of him he never showed to others, that he only revealed because he felt the situation was so dire? Why did Metal Sonic cringe and look really nervous at saying, " electrified walls, " as if the very act of saying those two words was painful for him? Was he really _that_ affected by his loss in the Death Egg Mk II? And why did he seem to believe in luck despite being a logical-minded robot? Sonic's mind was full of questions, but the one most pressing to his mind, was the one he chose to ask; by that point, two seconds had passed.

Sonic asked in a confused tone, " So, uh, why would I want to rescue Eggman? Not that I'm trying to insult you or anything, I'm just curious... " He was trying as hard as he possibly could to not look antagonistic to Metal Sonic, with a curious and confused expression on his face rather than a teasing or hateful one, and trying to pick his words carefully to make sure he wouldn't anger him.

As if he was expecting that answer, Metal Sonic explained in a serious tone that seemed to gradually get more emotion, " Well, Eggman is the entire reason that your life has the thrills and excitement that make it satisfying for you, and he is also the reason you possess the reputation of a hero that gives your life several perks, such as reward money to live off of that eliminates the need for you to get a job with a paying wage that you would not find exciting in the slightest. Due to this, it is clear that you would personally benefit from ensuring that the idiot _escapes_ _the_ _base_ so that he can return to challenging you and entertaining you. And due to the fact that you're the hero of the world, saving people is already something you agree with doing, so it is only natural that you would want to rescue him. I _know_ you are capable of doing this, Sonic. You are capable of achieving things that _many_ cannot, and defying the odds even when they seem stacked against you. So regardless of our _past_ _encounters,_ I cannot deny that you are the _greatest_ _possible_ _choice_ for assistance. " He seemed to have admiration in his tone when he said those last three sentences, with his eyes widening a little rather than being narrowed as they usually were as if he was expressing how he truly felt. He went from having his arms crossed to letting them hang at his sides with his head slightly down as he explained to him,

" I _understand_ why you'd be _reluctant_ to work with me. But this will be _different_ from our past encounters. It _has_ to be... there is _no_ _other_ _way._ So I will _make_ _sure_ not to be an _inconvenience._ You have my word. I'll be your _ally,_ not your rival, because this is _no_ _time_ for _fighting_ and _arguing;_ in such _dire_ _circumstances,_ it is neither the time nor the place, and it would only _waste_ what _little_ time I _have._ I don't know _what_ conditions SWORD is keeping Metal Knuckles, Cubot and Orbot in, but I would rather not _dwell_ _on_ what could _happen_ to them if I don't _save_ them in time or what they're _doing_ to them _now._ I _have_ to rescue them as soon as _possible,_ no matter _what!_ It's _my_ _responsibility!_ I won't fail them! I can't! So... as difficult as it is for me to _do_ this, I have to request help from you... I have no other choice. "

As Metal Sonic said this to him, he spoke in a tone that was far less intimidating than he had ever expected. He had gone from speaking in a completely serious tone that would be expected of a robot going on about his mission, to speaking with more emotion, like he was being genuine and revealing his true self. He looked depressed and dejected when he said Sonic would be reluctant to help him, with his eyes looking down at the ground away from him as he said that as if he was saddened by Sonic's lack of trust. Sonic couldn't believe it when Metal Sonic promised him that he wasn't going to act like his rival when he was helping him, because he cared more about ensuring that he carried out the rescue mission as soon as possible. He wasn't going to be insulting him, arguing with him, or trying to hurt him, like Knuckles did when he hung around with him, despite having a better excuse for acting that way, because Metal Sonic cared more about rescuing those three robots than expressing his hatred of him.

It was clear that rescuing Metal Knuckles, Cubot and Orbot was something he truly cared about, to the point where he would do anything to rescue them. Sonic was amazed and intrigued by this. Metal Sonic had actually developed compassion. There were actually people he cared about other than himself; well, robots, at least. It was clear from the way he neglected to mention Eggman that Metal Sonic wasn't concerned about his so-called " idiot boss " in the slightest, and was only worried about the three robots who came along with him, so it wasn't loyalty to his master that made him want to carry out the mission. It was him genuinely caring about someone other than himself and feeling a responsibility to rescue them. Metal Sonic actually had a noble side.

Sonic's eyes were wide open in realization and amazement as he let it all sink in, with Metal Sonic looking everywhere but at him with an expression of nervousness and discomfort as he waited for a response from him, almost as if he was acting awkward and fidgety. After three seconds passed, Sonic realized he hadn't said anything to respond to him and had to say something immediately to compensate for making him wait, so he uncrossed his arms, and said with a genuine smile,

" Sure, why not? " Metal Sonic looked at him in surprise and confusion with his eyes widened and said quietly, " Really? " unable to believe things had actually worked out well for him. He was certain Sonic was going to put up a lot more resistance, and he certainly wasn't expecting Sonic to smile at him like he liked him, and respected him, and cared about him, and... was proud of him? A warm feeling was soon felt that he managed to identify as happiness, a joy and satisfaction at the possibility of finally getting the approval of Sonic for even one brief fleeting moment. So, while he was cautious of believing it at first, it was only two seconds before he slowly started to smile, which was another thing that Sonic was astounded by; rather than being a smirk, it was an actual smile. He couldn't help but wonder why he had changed; it could be the result of Eggman reprogramming him after the Metal Overlord incident, but Eggman wouldn't intentionally program him to be more compassionate and humble, not when he was a combat robot intended for fighting. Perhaps he had changed on his own? But why? This again piqued Sonic's curiousity, but he avoided asking why because he knew that would be too personal a question. He didn't want to push his luck. So instead, he said with a smile,

" Of course I'll rescue Eggman! It's the right thing to do, after all, and if you wanna come along, I'll be happy to let you help. After all, it is _your_ mission, and there's plenty that _you're_ capable of, _too!_ You'd be a lot of help as long as you keep your promise not to hurt me, and since saving these robots is so important to you, I can tell that you will. I'm glad you came to me, Metal. It couldn't have been easy asking for my help, but I'm really glad that you swallowed your pride and did. I'm proud of you, Metal, I really am. "

Metal Sonic seemed to smile even more at hearing confirmation that Sonic was indeed impressed with him. After all, he had spent almost his entire life trying to impress Sonic, trying to prove that he was superior to him and not inferior like was the only possible alternative, so to see him expressing approval of him, even if for one fleeting moment, brought him indescribable joy, despite the fact that he had to reveal his soft side to him to get it. If anything, Sonic seemed to like his soft side; he appreciated it, rather than thinking he was weak and pathetic or accusing him of faking it. Metal Sonic also couldn't help but notice that Sonic was calling him Metal, which by coincidence, was the exact same name that his friends called him. He wondered if Sonic said that for the same reason.

" I'll go home and tell Tails what's going on. You'll have to wait at his workshop for a while; I'm gonna have a lot of explaining to do, and it'll be hard to convince him to trust you not to hurt us. I'm sure it'll only take a few minutes though. Be back in a bit! " Sonic said cheerfully with his usual carefree demeanor, before running at the speed of sound up to his house on the hill overlooking the Mystic Ruins, instantly going from standing near him to entering his house in a blue blur.

Metal Sonic stared in confusion and amazement with his eyes widened, unable to believe what just transpired. " That was easier than I _expected,_ " he said under his breath in shock and relief, unable to believe his good luck. Rather than Sonic getting angry with him and not trusting him, treating him with hatred and wariness, he actually smiled at him and acted cheerful and carefree around him after hearing him out, acting like he did around his friends.

Metal couldn't believe his good luck. He never got lucky; from his point of view, his entire life had been one long string of failures, losing to the person he was based off of again and again and again and again, despite how much training and practice he went through and despite his growing determination to win, determination that eventually spiraled out of control and led to a complete mental breakdown that resulted in him getting slightly reprogrammed, toning down his obsession with surpassing Sonic and turning his rage and envy into mere depression and bitterness over his miserable life. His life had been so miserable that he had come to the conclusion that he was cursed, that anyone who worked on Eggman's side was cursed with an extremely large amount of bad luck for as long as they worked for him, a conclusion that he came to partially as a result of Metal Knuckles, Cubot and Orbot convincing him that he only lost to Sonic out of bad luck to prevent him from falling into despair.

He wasn't the one with good luck, Sonic was, because the universe had blessed him with extremely good luck to ensure that he would always succeed in preventing that idiot scientist from taking over the world, and with good reason, too; Eggman was too incompetent to run a city, let alone the world. How could his idiot boss possibly make a good ruler of the world? He could barely run his own base. In fact, it had been less than a week before Metal Sonic had lost all respect for him; whenever he was told about another of his hair-brained schemes that he never thought all the way through, Metal Sonic would roll his eyes at his idiocy and focus on reading a book, and think to himself, " _What an idiot that man is._ "

Sonic's good luck spread to his friends, keeping them safe from being killed by Eggman or any of his creations, because that would inconvenience Sonic as a result, and the universe clearly loved Sonic too much to allow him to go through that experience. Metal soon began to wonder if the reason for his sudden good fortune was that, for the moment at least, the universe considered him to be Sonic's friend. Or at the very least, his ally. After all, he did say he would be Sonic's ally, and that Sonic would personally benefit from rescuing Eggman and letting him help, so the universe might be spreading Sonic's good luck to him for the duration of the mission for Sonic's sake. Metal felt a little embarrassed at the universe considering him to be Sonic's friend for now, but if it meant that he was going to get a break from his horrid and absolutely dreadful luck, it was for the best. He soon felt grateful for it, and was incredibly relieved that Sonic had given him a chance.

Sonic was going to trust him. That would make the mission a whole lot more bearable, helping the situation feel less awkward for him because he wouldn't feel as hated and untrusted and alone, not being accepted for who he is and not feeling like he belongs. He'd still feel that way, of course, especially since he would spend most of the mission completely silent to avoid saying anything to push his luck with Sonic, intentionally or otherwise. But at least Sonic treating him like a friend would make things slightly more tolerable. Sonic didn't despise working with him. He trusted him.

But what about Tails? That child would never feel safe around _him,_ a very powerful robot that could easily kill him if he ever wanted to. Tails would have a very difficult time trusting him not to hurt him or do anything evil. He was more cautious than Sonic, being not nearly as reckless and carefree as the juvenile hedgehog that was his closest friend. That was it, as well; his closest friend. If Sonic knew how scared his closest friend was just from being around him, would that change his mind about the temporary alliance? Would Tails refuse to come? He couldn't have that; Tails would be necessary for the mission's completion, due to his skills as an expert pilot, as well as his intelligence and ability to fly obviously coming in handy.

No matter how lucky Sonic was, he still couldn't stop worrying that without Tails helping him, he would never rescue them; he knew that he shouldn't have been worrying because Sonic's luck would guarantee the victory no matter the odds, but after spending his entire life failing and being cooped up in the base surrounded by people who were cursed with bad luck, it was very difficult to get out of that mindset. That negative, suspicious, wary, cautious, paranoid and pessimistic mindset that he was always going to fail, that what could go wrong would go wrong, that he can never be too careful and he should never get his hopes up, because whenever something good happens to him, it's to lure him into a trap because something bad's always waiting around the corner.

The universe hates him. It hates him with a passion. For years, that's what he's believed. He occasionally was ashamed of feeling that way. Here he was, a logical, rational, pragmatic and intelligent robot, who firmly believed in luck. Here he was, thinking about fate and luck and the universe as if it was a sentient being that was, towards Sonic, kind and doting, and towards him, malicious and malevolent. Intellectually, he knew it made no sense, since he had no empirical evidence to support the notion, but thinking back to all of the bad things that happened to him and all of the good things he saw or heard about happening to Sonic gave him all the evidence he needed. To him, it was a concrete fact that some people experienced more good fortune than others, and since Sonic was a hero working against the idiot scientist, it was clear that it was people saving and improving the world that the universe tended to favor. It made him wish that he himself could be in a position to garner the universe's favor in such a way, being a hero who used his skills and intelligence to actually accomplish something and have people like him and be impressed with him who weren't on the idiot's side.

But he knew it was never going to happen. The world would never accept him as a hero. Nobody working against Eggman would believe that he didn't have evil intentions, because outside of the three robots who considered him to be their friend, nobody truly understood him. He could be a hero temporarily, but he could never be a hero permanently. The world didn't accept him.

He didn't belong. He didn't want to feel like he wasn't accepted and that he would never belong. And even if that wasn't enough to convince him against changing the status quo, leaving home to go off on his own would mean being separated from Metal Knuckles, Cubot and Orbot, who he doubted would have the courage to leave with him and have Eggman go after them; especially Metal Knuckles, who didn't seem to have any resentment for Eggman despite not respecting his plans and being made uneasy by his evil deeds. He even called the idiot, " Dad, " a lot of the time, due to his innocence and naivety causing him to see his boss as a father figure, and even when he was ridiculing his plans out of earshot of him, he said, " Yeah, he's silly! " rather than expressing the annoyance for him that he himself had and expressed when saying, " What an idiot. "

And Cubot and Orbot were Eggman's assistants. They weren't combat robots, they weren't designed for that purpose. They had no way of defending themselves, especially not from Eggman and the robot army he would no doubt send after them if they defected. They would never be brave enough to risk getting destroyed by leaving Eggman's side just to avoid being separated from their friend, and even if they were, Metal Sonic wasn't sure if he wanted them to be put in such danger. He could dedicate himself to protecting them all he wanted, but he couldn't stay awake forever; eventually, his batteries would run out and they would all be destroyed in an ambush.

If Metal Sonic had ever chosen to leave Eggman's side permanently, he wouldn't want to leave without the three robots who cared about him the most. He wouldn't want to leave without his friends. And leaving with his friends would put them in danger, and bring them from a home that was safe and accepted them to a world where nobody trusted them. They wouldn't be happy in that situation, and neither would he. So while fighting Eggman like Sonic did might help solve his problem with luck, he still couldn't imagine his life not becoming even more miserable from what it would change into. Was freedom worth it if it meant a life of unbearable isolation and danger?

Metal Sonic sighed wearily with his head down, and started walking to Tails' Workshop unhappily, not looking forward to how awkward and uncomfortable it would be having to go on a plane ride with Sonic and Tails feeling completely untrusted by the latter. It stressed him out knowing that Tails would be afraid of him. He insisted to himself that it was purely because Tails was wrong and not at all because he cared about the child. Tails was wrong about him wanting to hurt him, and it always stressed him out when people were wrong, so it was only logical that he'd feel negative emotions about Tails having a wrong opinion about him. But he couldn't just outright say that he's wrong, because Tails would never believe him, and even if he did say it, how could he possibly do so without sounding rude? He didn't want to push his luck any more than he already had. He didn't wanna scare the kid. He needed to get his trust. How could he possibly carry out the mission without Tails piloting the plane?

As he sat down in front of the door to the workshop, he sighed heavily, with his head down in deep thought, his red eyes dimmed instead of glowing menacingly like they did when he was planning on attacking. He wondered if Sonic had noticed this and that was why he decided to trust him. Were his emotions really that obvious? Was he really that readable? He tried so hard for almost his entire life to hide his feelings from everyone else, but were they really that obvious? He hoped not; he couldn't let anyone know he had a soft side. That was why he acted so aloof, distant and apathetic in front of everyone, to avoid looking weak and pathetic. He had to look strong, not just physically, but emotionally as well; his spending weeks after being electrocuted on the Death Egg Mk II clearly traumatized from the experience had humiliated him enough, and he refused to let a few weeks of acting jumpy and easily excitable ruin his reputation as the world's most powerful robot.

Just as his train of thought was about to lead him to thinking about how the robots in home base still admired him for his fighting abilities, Metal Sonic heard Sonic and Tails walking up to him, and quickly realized he might have looked weak by sitting in front of the workshop with his head down in deep thought looking dejected and worried and conflicted, so he stood up slowly to avoid startling the timid kid in front of him, and assumed a bored and aloof expression to hide his nervousness. Avoiding eye contact with the worried and scared Tails, he looked at the workshop while having his arms crossed to avoid looking weak as Sonic said cheerfully, " Alright, I've convinced him to help! He'll be piloting the Tornado-1 all the way to Siberia! It sure is a good thing this little _genius_ brother of mine made the plane so darn fast! It'll reach our destination in less than an hour! Come on, everyone, let's find this base and check it out! "

With that, Sonic jumped onto the wing of the plane with a carefree smile, and Metal Sonic uncrossed his arms and walked towards the plane with a seemingly bored expression on his face. Tails couldn't help but notice how Metal Sonic climbed into the back seat, buckled his seatbelts and tightened them, clearly wanting to make absolutely sure he would be safe. He could've sworn he heard Metal Sonic say under his breath, " I can never be too _careful,_ " as he ensured his own safety in the plane, in stark contrast with the carefree Sonic who had no problem with standing on the wing of the plane and risking falling off in the process. Tails wondered if it was because Metal doubted his skills as a pilot or simply didn't trust him not to pilot the plane in a reckless manner just to put him in danger, and was even more nervous as a result as he cautiously went over to the front seat of the plane, with a wary expression on his face.

But as he walked over to the plane and then flew over to the front seat with his tails, he couldn't help but notice that Metal Sonic had a worried and nervous expression on his face that seemed to convey fear; not resentment and hatred, but fear. He wondered if it was because Metal didn't trust his piloting skills, or because Sonic was right about Metal being worried about the safety of those three robots he was supposed to rescue. Tails wondered which one was true as he drove the plane to the end of the runway and flew it up into the sky, with Metal Sonic staring to the left with his head turned to hide his nervous, awkward and worried expression. His hand was on his chin in a manner that implied he was bored and staring to the left of him to give himself something to focus on, as opposed to revealing the truth that he was staring at the scenery to the left of him to distract himself from his constant worrying.

The plane ride to SWORD's base was a long one, and Sonic's carefree banter with Tails was the only thing that prevented it from having a long awkward silence that would've been stifling and unbearable, especially for Metal Sonic, who felt unwanted enough as it was. Sonic was trying to reassure Tails that he had nothing to worry about by cheerfully talking with him about nothing in particular in his usual carefree manner as if it was just a normal plane ride for the two of them, clearly trying to act as if Metal Sonic wasn't there and distract Tails from that fact. And while it did help by providing Tails with something to focus on other than the fact that Eggman's most powerful robot was in the same plane as him, he still felt wary about trusting Metal Sonic, and knowing that even his best friend didn't agree with him in his wariness only worried him all the more. He was relieved when the plane finally reached the base.

" Hey! There it is! Says right there on the radar, that's SWORD's base! " Sonic exclaimed in excitement, which immediately got Metal Sonic's attention. He looked forward to see what was in front of the plane, and upon seeing a certain part of the area's defenses, he was immediately filled with dread.

Electrified walls stood surrounding the base from every direction, with visible electricity coming out of them and making a horrible buzzing sound that overwhelmed him about as much as the mere sight of them did. They brought back some horrible memories. Slamming into an electrified wall at 3,072 m/ph had been a frightening experience for him, one that he was never going to forget. If anything, it was too easy to remind him, and just from seeing those horrible walls, Metal Sonic was overwhelmed with fear, with his eyes widened and a haunted expression on his face. His red eyes dimmed and shrunk to the size of tiny dots, dots that looked fuzzy and just barely spherical as they expressed the truth that he did not feel safe. The electrified walls' intimidating appearance and the buzzing noise they continuously made pierced into him and overwhelmed all of his senses, giving him flashbacks against his will as he was forcibly reminded of how he felt when he slammed into one of them five years ago. He never wanted that to happen to him again.

He started shaking and trembling uncontrollably as he tensed up and put his head down with his hands on his head as he tried to ignore the presence of the walls, and his shrunken red eyes dimmed and seemed to shift into a U shape with the pupils vanishing as he " closed " them. He tried as hard as possible to calm down and feel safe again, with the logical part of his mind reminding him in frustration that he was safe in the plane and he needed to calm down and get a hold of himself, because the world's most powerful robot couldn't be that weak and vulnerable, and if Sonic caught him feeling that way, he'd be humiliated. Still trembling, he had a grimace on his face to make it look like he had an intimidating angry expression to try and avoid looking weak, being too panicked and focused on the danger and flashbacks to be aware that his trembling and covering his eyes with his hands would give him away; it would be obvious just from looking at him that he was frightened. But at the moment, Sonic and Tails noticing him wasn't what he was worried about. All he could focus on, all he was aware of, was the presence of those electrified walls, those extremely dangerous electrified walls that he had encountered in the past. He was overwhelmed with dread, and hoped desperately for a distraction, because at the moment, he was completely consumed by fear.

Thankfully for him, Sonic and Tails were completely oblivious to how he was acting in the presence of those walls, because they were looking straight ahead and down at the base, taking into account all of the dangers it posed and soon realizing that they couldn't go there right away. They weren't prepared. But while Tails looked even more worried and nervous about the danger of the mission Metal Sonic wanted him to help with, Sonic got all the more excited and said,

" Wow! This place is really guarded! Well, little bro, it looks like we're not gonna be able to go in there right away! " Tails asked nervously, " What are we gonna do? " as Metal Sonic desperately tried to listen and focus on what Sonic was saying instead of the horrible buzzing of electricity. Sonic laughed a little and said with excitement,

" What we _always_ do! _Collect_ the _seven_ _Chaos_ _Emeralds!_ This little base might be dangerous _now,_ but if I go Super, there's no way it'll take me down! With the power of those emeralds, this mission will be a piece of cake! All we have to do is find them, and we'll have nothing to worry about! Of course, looking for all the emeralds is gonna take a while. You know what that means?! Another _adventure!_ Heh heh heh! That's great! I've been looking forward to another adventure! Come on, Tails, it'll be fun! We already have one emerald in the workshop, so all we have to do is use it to track down the others! And then we'll find all of those emeralds as fast as we can! How hard could it be? "

Metal Sonic would've rolled his eyes at Sonic's immature cockiness if it weren't for the fact that he was extremely panicked at the moment; instead, he was so afraid for his safety that he was thankful that Sonic was saying something at all, because it provided a necessary distraction. Sonic's plan was guaranteed to work, not only because it was a rather good plan all on its own, but also because with Sonic and Tails' luck and skill, the plan's probability of success was at 100%. It was practically a law of the universe at this point. The mission would take longer to carry out, but at least it was guaranteed a success. He would dedicate himself to doing whatever he could to getting them to trust him, gathering the emeralds for the mission and proving himself as a trustworthy ally for the sake of the alliance. At the very least, it would help make being around them less awkward. As he thought about this, Metal Sonic gradually became less panicked and overwhelmed by fear and flashbacks, having been distracted from the electrified walls by his thoughts about Sonic's plan and how it would affect him.

Tails turning the plane around and heading back home did even more to help calm him down, by making the buzzing of electricity fade away in the distance as the horrible electrified walls became further and further away, until he could no longer hear them. When he finally was unable to hear them, he had to hold back a sigh of relief, because it would direct attention to him and perhaps reveal to his temporary allies just how afraid he was and how put on edge he was a few minutes ago, and make them think of him as weak. Calming down, he looked unhappy and worried. While he was incredibly relieved at being away from the danger at last, he was still shaken from the fact that he was forced to be within proximity of what he considered to be the most dangerous thing in the world; electricity.

He was surprised when Sonic looked over at him with a cheerful smile and said in a friendly carefree tone, " We've got it all figured out, Metal! We'll find the emeralds and storm that base in no time! And it'll be all the more easy because _you're_ gonna help us! Sound like a plan? " Metal was surprised for a few seconds and looked at Sonic with his eyes widened, taken off guard by Sonic actually talking to him for the first time since the flight began, as well as by the cheerful tone he was spoken to in. Sonic, meanwhile, had spoken to him because he had noticed that Metal Sonic was oddly silent in the plane, and figured that it was because he felt like he didn't belong, and so he decided to talk to him to make him feel more accepted and included. He had spent the vast majority of the flight talking to Tails, and he hoped Metal wasn't upset that he was ignoring him.

After a few seconds of being silent from surprise, Metal Sonic finally stammered in confusion and surprise, " W-Well, um, _yeah!_ " and nodded to express his agreement with the plan. He hoped he wasn't coming off as weak and pathetic, since he didn't exactly look menacing like this. Sonic took note of Metal Sonic's unusually awkward and shy behavior at being addressed like a friend by him, but chose not to draw attention to it. Instead, he smiled, gave him a thumbs-up and said cheerfully, " Great! That's just what I like to hear! We'll be home soon, Metal, and as soon as we get that emerald from the workshop, we'll track down the others and work together to find them! " and turned back around to face forwards, politely ignoring Metal Sonic's confused expression.

Metal Sonic was, again, confused and conflicted by how friendly Sonic was being to him. Was it because Eggman hadn't sent him to fight Sonic in years? Did spending that long a time without fighting him cause Sonic to stop hating him as much as he used to? Come to think of it, Sonic had never really treated him with hatred. At worst, he acted cocky and teased him, but he teased him playfully, in a playful way rather being outright hateful of him. It was almost as if he didn't really hate him. Was it because he was Eggman's robot, so Sonic didn't hate him as much because he thought he was only programmed to be his enemy and wasn't really responsible for his actions as a result? For some reason he couldn't understand, that thought calmed and comforted him. He expected to feel ashamed and embarrassed that Sonic didn't view him as an enemy to be completely hated and thus taken seriously, but instead, he felt relieved and thankful. Was it because Sonic was such a powerful fighter and worthy opponent that he couldn't afford to have him hating him with a passion, because of what he would do to him if he fought him with all of his strength? All of the times he lost to Sonic in a fight, he was put through nothing but pain and misery. He could only imagine what it would be like to lose a fight if Sonic truly hated him with a passion and wanted him dead... Or destroyed, as Eggman would put it.

Metal Sonic looked depressed and annoyed as he returned to staring to the left of him with his hand on his chin in boredom. He always resented it when Eggman insisted that robots weren't people, weren't sentient beings with feelings and thoughts and passions and rights, and when he insisted that they didn't have souls, and were nothing but machines made to serve him. He hated that. He couldn't stand it. It was prejudiced; there was no other way to describe it. Just because he was a robot, he was treated as a second-class citizen.

It was irritating, but it was also depressing. Even in his own home, the one place where he was accepted and cared about, he still had a master who didn't think of him as a person. To him, he was nothing but his robot slave. Sure, Eggman insisted otherwise; he always claimed that Metal Sonic was his favorite robot, due to being the robot best suited to matching Sonic in a fight and his intelligence surpassing his greatest expectations. And true, Eggman had refused to scrap him after the Metal Overlord incident because he was his greatest creation and he had known him for years, so he had grown attached to him in spite of himself; that was why he could never replace him or build another robot like him. But in spite of all that, Eggman was still adamant on thinking of him as just a robot whose purpose was to serve him, to do what he said without question, and he didn't care that Metal was technically his slave, he didn't care that he was restricting his rights and he didn't care how he was making him feel. All he cared about was beating that juvenile hedgehog no matter how pointless and futile it was.

Metal Sonic almost sighed wearily to express the increasing amount of depressing emotions he was feeling, only to remember that Sonic and Tails would hear it, and the last thing he needed in this situation was to draw attention to himself. It was awkward enough that they were aware of his presence in the plane. He didn't need them knowing he was unhappy during the alliance and trusting him less. So instead of expressing his misery through a sigh, he simply stared to the left of him at the scenery on the ground as Tails flew the plane back to his workshop.

What the three of them hadn't realized was that SWORD's radar had picked up the Tornado-1 flying directly towards their base and then doing a U-Turn to fly back the other way. A woman with black hair and blue eyes said while sitting in front of the radar, " Robert, our radar has picked up a small biplane heading directly towards the base! Contact the troops guarding the perimeter and warn them to prepare to send out the anti-aircraft mis- Wait, what's this? The plane just turned around, and started flying back the other way... And this was after a period of time where it was flying more slowly than when it first approached us... " A brown-haired man to the left of her asked suspiciously, " Interesting... Do you think the plane was coming here to storm the base, only for the pilot to see how heavily guarded the base was and draw back for reinforcements? "

" I believe so... Well, I doubt Metal Sonic would even be able to pilot a plane, let alone choose to use one when he could just fly with his jet engine chasis. He piloted an airship at one point, but not a biplane. Do you think that biplane could have belonged to Tails? " Robert said suspiciously with his hand on his chin, " It seems unlikely considering how Sonic and Tails were not informed of our existence, let alone our plans for the evil scientist. But I suppose we could always check the surveillance footage to see. Victor! You know what to do! "

A blond muscular man sitting at a keyboard to a computer started moving the mouse around and clicking on various things in order to access the recorded footage above the base. Soon, footage came onto the screen of a red and yellow biplane in the distance piloted by Tails, with Sonic standing on the wing as usual, and Metal Sonic sitting buckled up in the backseat, unhappily staring to the left of him with his hand on his chin in deep contemplation. The footage was recorded from the perspective of a robot that looked exactly like a hummingbird on the outside. At first, the footage had only showed a small red dot on the horizon, but when the bird's optical sensors decided to zoom in on the target like a telescope, it was soon revealed what it truly was. Upon seeing this, everyone in the room had a surprised and nervous look on their face.

" Sonic and Tails are coming?! But why?! Our intelligence indicated that Metal Sonic was showing up! Could he have convinced them to assist him in the mission? Why would he ask his sworn enemy for help? Those weren't his orders! And wouldn't it be really humbling having to request help from Sonic and try to get his trust for a mission he was supposed to do alone? " Victor said nervously.

" Victor, you're talking as if this killing machine is _sentient._ You're saying that he has _emotions_ just like you and I do... Well, if he does, that means his AI is far more advanced than we were prepared for, which means we'll have a far more threatening villain to defeat! Send this information throughout the base! '' Robert said. " On it! "

And just like that, the information was spread to everyone working in the base, from the intelligence agents to the scientists to the troops guarding the perimeter. Soon, the leader of SWORD was contacted. He was playing Minesweeper on his computer to pass the time when his cell phone began to ring. He looked annoyed, picked it up, and was shocked at what he found out.

" Julie, tell the workers reprogramming the robots that we'll need a _much_ bigger army! Bring every robot we've got to be upgraded for the task! Send only robots of Eggman's after them! After all, they'll no doubt become suspicious of Metal Sonic if they have to keep fighting robots belonging to the person he claims is currently kidnapped. Those robots need to be sent to the plane as soon as it lands! Sonic and Tails are standing in the way of justice and righteousness! Tell the workers at SWORD to do whatever it takes to make sure they become unable to storm our base! I don't care that they're ' heroes, ' if they're planning an attack! When we're done with our plans, the world won't _need_ heroes like them. Send surveillance birds after the plane with the orders to monitor the three in it and put a tracking device on the bottom of the plane itself! We _have_ to know what they're up to! For all we know, they could be going back to get those _sacred_ _emeralds!_ And I refuse to let Sonic and Tails use them for something as vile and evil as keeping a dangerous megalomaniac as a threat! If our plans work, the Chaos Emeralds will never be able to be abused again! "

Eventually, the Tornado-1 land

ed on the runway near Tails' workshop after a long plane ride back from Siberia. Sonic jumped off the wing of the plane before it finished landing and gracefully landed on his two feet on the ground after back-flipping in the air, which caused Metal Sonic to roll his eyes at his recklessness and unbuckle his seatbelts to leave the back seat after the plane had stopped moving, thinking to himself, " _Why does he think that's a good idea? He's lucky he doesn't get himself killed! Uh, I mean, not that I care or anything. Because I don't!_ "

Now that all three of them were out of the plane, Sonic said with a carefree smile, " That was fun! Now let's locate those emeralds! " and opened a small red toolbox in the gray cabinet in the workshop that contained a Chaos Emerald. Still looking timid because Metal Sonic was around, Tails cautiously took the emerald out of the toolbox with shaky hands and placed it into a hole in an electronic device connected to his computer, and used the computer mouse to click through various menus to find the Chaos Emerald Locater he programmed into it by taking advantage of its GPS. Soon, what looked like a video of the planet from outer space showed up on the screen, and several different red dots appeared in various locations on the planet's surface indicating the locations of emeralds.

A long time passed as Tails clicked each of the dots on the screen to zoom in multiple times on their locations and then wrote each of them down on a small piece of paper in front of him, which Metal Sonic tried not to get bored by due to the complete silence. He was impressed by the fact that Tails was intelligent enough to make a computer program for himself that displayed the locations of the Chaos Emeralds on a map of the world, although he knew he shouldn't be surprised that Tails, who he considered to be the _true_ " most brilliant inventor in the world, " would be capable of that. But he didn't want to look suspicious by commenting on the emerald locater; for all he knew, Sonic and Tails would think he was going to tell Eggman to arrange for it to be stolen or replicated, as opposed to simply expressing the fact that he was impressed. He also didn't want to look like he had gone soft by admitting he was proud of Tails for something he accomplished. So he stayed silent, standing to the left of Tails with his arms crossed in boredom waiting for Tails to finish writing the locations down. He was incredibly relieved when it was over.

Sonic said with a carefree demeanor, " Great job, little bro! Alright, we've located all the emeralds we need to find! One's in Green Hill Zone, one's in Marble Garden Zone - on Angel Island where Knuckles is, that could be a problem. One's in Ice Mountain Zone - oh, geez, uh, the one with all the water? Heh heh, let's put that one _last._ Then there's one in the capital of Shamar and one in Dragon Road in Chun-Nan. All areas I've been to! How convenient! "

Metal Sonic rolled his eyes, thinking in annoyance, " _Convenient for you, maybe, but of all the areas you just mentioned, I've put aside the time to visit only three of them. Granted, the first one I'm extremely familiar with, but... Oh, great. I'll have to explain myself to him because of that._ "

Tails, on the other hand, looked nervous. Sonic was trying his best to cheer him up and reassure him he was safe by acting exactly the same as he usually did around him, and while it did relieve some of the tension of working with Metal Sonic, someone who could kill him with the flick of his wrist, he still couldn't help but be really uneasy about the fact that Sonic just made it incredibly obvious that he was afraid of water in front of someone who could use that information against him. Granted, Sonic said that quietly, so he might not have heard, but since he's a robot, his heightened sense of hearing might have allowed him to hear it anyways, and Tails didn't like the idea that Metal Sonic could figure out Sonic's greatest fear and use it against him. Of course, Eggman knew Sonic had hydrophobia and he didn't use it against him as much as he could've, only taking advantage of it by making him go through areas with lots of water in them on his adventures, which Metal couldn't make him do. So it might not be so bad. But that didn't prevent Tails from being worried.

Just after Sonic had stated the location of the emerald in Chun-Nan, he said, " And finally, the last emerald we need is... in _Shadow's_ house... Aw, _great._ Looks like we're putting _this_ one off until the very _end._ " Metal Sonic's eyes widened in shock at hearing Shadow's name, only to quickly narrow again in mild annoyance at Sonic being exasperated while saying it. He remembered the adventure he and Shadow had together when Eggman had sent him to work with Shadow to defeat Eggman Nega. He was awkward about going up to him for assistance, and was surprised when not only did Shadow agree to work with him, but worked with him rather well. Rather than constantly insulting him and showing that he didn't trust him like one would expect someone so cynical to act towards him, Shadow actually treated him with respect. Not only did he take the mission seriously - unlike Sonic was right now - but he actually showed that he cared about his well-being, which he never thought he'd hear from anyone not on Eggman's side.

Shadow was the first and so far only person not working for Eggman who asked him if he was okay, something he wished he was able to thank him for back then; not just because it would be awkward to thank him, but also because Eggman had temporarily removed his ability to speak in favor of loudspeakers for himself to converse with Shadow with. On the one hand, it prevented him from saying anything he'd regret, but on the other hand, it prevented him from expressing any gratitude. When the two of them were trapped in the Ifrit's dimension and he had to tear the Chaos Emerald out of his chest to allow Shadow to warp them home, Shadow was actually concerned and panicked, and told him he was worried he would destroy himself. In truth, he was worried for nothing; while doing so did cause him to deactivate from the damage and the loss of his temporary power source, Eggman was able to fix him and return him to getting energy from oxygen quite easily, although it was still very painful taking the emerald out of himself in the first place. But the sheer fact that he was so worried about a robot he had thought of as his enemy destroying himself, gave him a whole new respect for Shadow.

He knew that everyone thought of Shadow as overly cynical, negative and aloof, but now he knew that they were wrong to be annoyed by him. Not only was he an extremely powerful fighter like Sonic was, but he was noble and compassionate; he just made it hard to tell. He wished Shadow and him could go on more adventures together. He wished the two of them could be friends. So hearing Sonic express such exasperation with having to ask for help from someone he respected so much was confusing and irritating for Metal Sonic, who had assumed that Sonic liked Shadow more than that.

" What's wrong with _Shadow?_ " Metal Sonic asked in annoyance and confusion, still having his arms crossed from before. The instant he said that, he hoped he wasn't in trouble as Tails looked at him in surprise seeming intimidated. " Oh, he's really _reluctant_ to help me when I _ask_ for it. It's no biggie, though, we'll cross _that_ bridge when we _come_ _to_ _it,_ " Sonic replied in exasperation without taking his eyes off the computer screen, assuming that Metal Sonic had only asked that out of curiousity. Metal Sonic couldn't help but be annoyed at hearing that, and wondered if Shadow's reluctance to help Sonic came from his serious, cynical and aloof personality contrasting with Sonic's carefree, idealistic and fun-loving nature, or from Sonic being rude to him for not thinking the way he did. Tails noticed how he looked at Sonic in mild annoyance and worried because of it, although he couldn't help but wonder why Metal Sonic would be annoyed at him for insulting Shadow. After all, it's not like he insulted _him._ Did he actually like Shadow?

Sonic went back to smiling in his usual carefree way as he said, " Right now, though, it's time to go after the first one, in Green Hill Zone! I figured I'd go after the easiest one the first. It's how my adventures _usually_ go. Come on, everyone! " and jumped onto the wing of the plane eagerly. After putting the emerald back into the toolbox, Tails used his tails to fly into the front seat of the plane while Metal Sonic used his jet engine chest to fly over to the back seat, sat down in it, and buckled up his seatbelts and tightened them just in case. Tails drove the Tornado-1 down the runway and flew it up into the air, and it was only then that Metal Sonic realized what Sonic had said.

He had said the word, " adventures. " Sonic considered this to be an adventure. He wasn't fighting any particular villain, or dealing with any traps or robots. All he was doing was traveling the world to collect six Chaos Emeralds, but he still thought of himself as going on an adventure, with _him._ Metal Sonic was going on an adventure with Sonic the Hedgehog, and his eyes widened in realization when it hit him. He never thought that would happen.

He never thought he'd be in that situation, he never thought he'd be the one asking for the adventure, he never thought Sonic would agree to it, and yet here he was, in his plane, as if it was completely normal. Well, not really; while Sonic was acting carefree like he was around his friends, giving off the impression that he trusted him, Tails hadn't stopped acting timid and nervous since he first saw him there. But still, he was on an adventure with Sonic the Hedgehog, for the very first and probably only time. And he didn't hate it. Granted, it was sort of awkward because Tails was there making it very obvious that he didn't trust him or accept him and making him feel like he didn't belong, and he had to be quiet and obedient and as well-behaved as he possibly could to keep the alliance intact, but it didn't change the fact that he was on an adventure with who he thought was his lifelong rival, and he didn't detest it on principle.

All he cared about was doing whatever it took to make sure that Metal Knuckles, Cubot and Orbot were rescued. He cared about the mission, Tails cared about getting it done and over with as soon as possible, and Sonic cared about having fun along the way. He was the most serious person in the plane, being completely focused on getting the mission done, not engaging in any friendly banter or joking around like Sonic was in an obvious effort to get Tails to relax. If Shadow was there, he would have been acting in a similar way. One of the things he and Shadow had in common were their serious natures, and while he didn't directly admit it to anyone, he was honored to share that trait with Shadow.

While Shadow wasn't the hero of the world, he should've been. He possessed all of the same abilities that Sonic did and more, and unlike him, his personality meant that he would've actually taken the duty of the hero seriously. Since the hero was in charge of keeping billions of people safe from having their lives ruined by the idiot scientist, it was clear that the job was a big responsibility, one most suited for someone mature and responsible, and Shadow fit the bill. There was also the fact that he wasn't based off Shadow, so he could actually admire him without feeling like he's just an inferior version of him and having his admiration overshadowed by envy and a competitive desire to prove he's superior because of it. He wasn't based off Shadow, so there was no pressure to be just like him but better, so he was actually able to like and admire him without feeling pathetic as a result. He supposed it did make him weak-minded to end up idolizing someone who was technically on Sonic's side just because he had spent an adventure with him, but the logical part of his mind quickly justified that with the knowledge that it was an objective fact that Shadow had a lot about him that he considered worthy of respect.

Sonic looked back at him while he was thinking about this, and saw joy in Metal Sonic's eyes along with a smile the likes of which he had almost never seen on him before; it wasn't a smirk, but a genuine likable smile. And fortunately for him, Metal Sonic wasn't looking at him when he briefly looked at him in the back seat; his eyes had a far-away look to them, not focused on anything in particular, as if he was in deep thought about something that made him happy. Sonic smiled and returned to staring ahead before Metal could see him looking at him in curiousity. He wondered if the reason for Metal Sonic's happiness was that he realized he was actually going on an adventure with him and being treated like just another friend of his while it was happening, and found that heartwarming to think about.

Then he looked at Tails, who still had a nervous and worried expression on his face as he piloted the plane, and his smile turned into a worried frown as he realized that while he himself was treating Metal like an accepted part of the group, Tails wasn't.

The poor kid was afraid of him. He was reluctant to go on the adventure from the very beginning, all because he knew Metal Sonic would be there. In fact, the only reason he could convince his little brother figure to go with him in the end was by allowing him to secretly take an EMP ray gun along with him. While Sonic was brave enough, idealistic enough and optimistic enough to trust Metal Sonic to help him, Tails wasn't, and it made the adventure difficult for the both of them; Tails because he was afraid Metal would do something evil at the quickest opportunity, and Metal because he felt like he didn't belong. It would take a long time for Tails to stop being worried and afraid around Metal Sonic during the temporary truce. Sonic knew it wouldn't be a good idea to try too hard to push the kid to be friendly to him and trust him when he was so afraid of him; that would only make Tails even more afraid.

He couldn't just leave him alone with him, not only because Tails wouldn't trust Metal not to hurt him with Sonic not around, but also because even he himself was worried about that happening. Even if he did plan to do that, it couldn't be until later, when Tails and him had been given more reason to trust Metal Sonic not to break his word. What was he going to do when the plane landed in Green Hill Zone? He wasn't sure if Metal Sonic could be trusted to search for the emerald alone. What if he couldn't resist the temptation to use it against him? Plus, since he's never been in Green Hill Zone, he couldn't possibly know the layout. What if he gets lost and can't find the plane again? Granted, he seemed like a rather intelligent robot, so that probably wasn't going to happen, but still. Sonic decided that just to be safe, he would wait until later to send him off to search for an emerald alone. They would all go to find the emeralds together, one at a time, searching for the first one at the very least while being all in a group within sight of each other. After all, he couldn't leave Tails alone at the plane. What if he snapped and went home from the anxiety? What if he got hurt while no one else was there? No, this way was safer. Sonic was slightly ashamed of focusing so much on the safest possible option when that was the complete opposite of who he was, but in a situation like this, it was probably for the best.

It wasn't long before the Tornado-1 landed in Green Hill Zone at last. Sonic jumped off the wing of the plane and landed on the grass of the meadow with a nostalgic smile, saying, " It's been a while since I've been here! " and chuckling. The last time he had been through there was during the Time Eater adventure, but even then, he hadn't gone through all of it, so there were still plenty of areas in the meadow that he was now unfamiliar with. " A really long while. Haven't been all the way through this place for five and a half years! But that's not that much of a problem. I don't have to go through it as fast as possible with as little mistakes as possible, I just have to search the entire place. Not much familiarity required for that! Come on, everyone! Let's go through this place like I used to and search for the emerald! We're all staying within sight of each other so no one gets separated from the group, so I'll look to the left, you'll look to your right, and Metal, you'll look ahead, since you've never been here before. Let's go! "

This worried Metal Sonic as he unbuckled his seatbelt and carefully got out of the plane after it stopped moving, because unlike Sonic, he had gone through all of Green Hill Zone an unhealthy amount of times back when he was still obsessed with surpassing Sonic in even the most trivial of things. So even though he hadn't been there for two and a half years, he'd still be able to go through it with almost no mistakes from sheer muscle memory alone, knowing exactly when to jump and the quickest route to take. If Sonic found out how good he was at going through this place now, he would want some answers that he was uncomfortable with giving to him, and he was worried about the consequences of doing so. It would be clear that he had gone through the place multiple times and he didn't want Sonic asking questions and not believing the answers. But he didn't want to pretend to be worse at going through the place than he really was. He didn't want to embarrass himself in front of Sonic, and there was a possibility that the ever-so oblivious Sonic would just be impressed with him and say he's a natural rather than figuring out that he had been there before. So he decided to go through it the expert way anyways, even though that was risky and required him to run and jump like Sonic instead of hover along the ground, because Sonic would probably be too busy looking to the left of him to get suspicious.

Unfortunately for him, he was wrong. Sonic and Tails were rather quick to notice how skilled Metal Sonic was at going through the first third of it alone, jumping at all of the right times and knowing exactly how to keep his momentum. It was made even more obvious when he started to take a higher route than them, although since he was still within sight of them, Sonic couldn't say he was breaking the rule. Searching Green Hill Zone's first third soon became more of a race than a search with Sonic and Tails doing their best to keep up, since Metal Sonic doing it the expert way meant going at the speed of sound, which Sonic could keep up with perfectly if not for the fact that he wasn't as good at going through the place as Metal was, and Tails could go slightly below the speed of sound by spinning his tails like a propeller when he ran. Whenever they got to a part where there were multiple paths, Sonic had to tell Tails to take the lower path as he followed Metal Sonic in the upper one.

While the narration makes the race sound like it was a worrying and nerve-wracking experience for Sonic, the truth was that he was enjoying the challenge of it, even though he was still suspicious from Metal Sonic suddenly running and jumping through it like he had mastered it without using his own unique abilities. Sonic was even smiling during the race, finding it fun and exciting, allowing him to get the search done a lot quicker than he expected. Everyone's eyes were still looking all around the area despite trying to get through it as fast as possible, so it wasn't like they would've run past the emerald if it was there. Metal Sonic was serious, being completely focused on going through the place the way he had before to avoid any embarrassing screw-ups in front of Sonic and getting the mission done as fast as possible, and Tails was worried that Metal Sonic would get too far away from them and not stop at the end of the first third of the hill, as well as suspicious that he had somehow located the emerald in Green Hill Zone before coming to Sonic and memorized the layout in advance. But Sonic was having fun, and by the time they had finished searching the first third of the hill, he was smiling from the excitement when they stopped at the goalpost Eggman had put there years ago.

" Woo-hoo! That was fun! " Sonic exclaimed cheerfully as Tails caught up with the two of them. He chuckled and said, " Wasn't expecting a race! You're pretty good at this, Metal! Almost like you've been here more than me! Heh heh heh! We got the search a third of the way done already! Keep it up! " He briefly put his hand on his shoulder at the second sentence to express casual approval of his skills and gave him a thumbs-up after he finished talking, smiling all the while in his usual carefree demeanor.

Metal Sonic was standing with his arms crossed in front of him with his usual bored, serious, " only sane man " expression, trying to hide the fact that he was incredibly worried about the incoming suspicion, but he took Sonic's carefree and lighthearted approach to commenting about his skills to mean that Sonic thought he was just a natural. He didn't realize that Sonic was just being polite; he already suspected that Metal had been through this place before, but assumed that he had gone through it on his various missions for Eggman, and so didn't want to look nosy or remind him they were usually enemies by asking for the exact details. Tails, on the other hand, had no such qualms, being too worried and nervous to be able to hold back his suspicion.

" Yeah! You were _really_ good! You went through it _flawlessly!_ " Tails said to Metal Sonic, unsuccessfully trying to sound purely impressed rather than confused. Realizing he was attracting suspicion, Metal Sonic admitted in embarrassment, " I wasn't perfect, I made some mistakes. I was a millisecond off with my last jump and it didn't keep the momentum as well as it should've. " Even more suspicious, Tails asked, " How did you know you were a millisecond off? " taking that as even more proof that he memorized the layout of the level and trained at it. Sonic looked at Tails with a smile trying to hide how worried he was at what he was doing; if Metal didn't want to tell him, it was better to just stay out of it.

" W-Well, I-I was focusing _really_ _hard_ on what was ahead of me and doing calculations and going through various simulations in my mind to determine the best way to go through the area, including knowing when to jump, and my senses were sped up to the speed of sound because that's how fast I was moving and so that's how fast I was thinking, a-and that's how I figured out how to do it so well, I just examined the area in front of me and thought at length about what to do next at the speed of sound, it's no big deal. " Metal Sonic stammered nervously, trying to only look like he was being humble and not trying to hide something. Tails said with an impressed tone to try to mask his suspicion, " So you did it this well on the very first try?! All because you're a robot and so you noticed and analyzed everything and made some calculations at a really quick speed? Well, you must be _really_ _observant!_ Although Sonic can think at the speed of sound when he's going that fast, too, so I don't know why _he's_ not a natural on the first try. "

Noticing how nervous Metal Sonic was, Sonic said with a shrug, " It's no big deal, Tails, I'm just not as good at calculating stuff as a robot is. Go figure! Anyway, the next third of the area is coming _right_ up, so- "

" You've been practicing, _haven't_ you?! " Tails interrupted to Sonic's exasperation, still with an impressed smile to try and pretend he was just complimenting him instead of expressing suspicion - an act which nobody was fooled by, as Metal Sonic became even more nervous, with his eyes darting back and forth and his body language getting fidgety. " How did you know to do that before we located an emerald here? Was it just a really lucky guess? Or do you have a locater of your own? "

" I don't possess an emerald locater, and even if I did, I wouldn't have used it before coming to Sonic because I didn't know we'd be going after the emeralds. I wasn't thinking that far ahead. Which is extremely _unlike_ me, but since I was going to request Sonic's help and he would be the one making all the decisions, I had decided not to make any plans of my own. Anyways, kid, your older brother is right, we should really start searching the rest of the hill now, we have a mission to focus on. " Metal Sonic said with a tone of mild annoyance to try and hide his nervousness, hoping he wouldn't anger Sonic or intimidate Tails a little too much by sounding annoyed with him.

" But then why were you practicing? If you didn't know you'd even be _coming_ _here,_ why did you take the time to master it before the adventure? " Tails said, this time with nothing but confusion in his tone; he was certain that Metal Sonic had an emerald locater back at the base and had predicted that they were going to search for emeralds, and being proven wrong left him with no explanation. " You can never be too prepared. You have to be prepared for _every_ possibility no matter how unlikely it is! That is how I've operated for years. I cannot know what exactly will happen next, but at the very _least,_ I can go through different scenarios in my mind to figure out how I would react to something in advance, " Metal Sonic said in a serious tone.

" S-So, when did you last go through this place? " Tails asked in confusion, seeming more nervous as he realized how long he had been pressuring Metal Sonic for the truth and pushing his luck. " Two and a half years ago, " Metal Sonic admitted with the same serious tone, not realizing he was very gradually bit by bit revealing the truth he was hiding. Tails was even more confused at hearing this because of how good he was at going through the area after that long implying he had gone through it an extremely large amount of times. " Two and a half years?! And you're still an expert?! How many times have you gone _through_ this place?! " Tails exclaimed, which caused him to soon hope that he hadn't pushed his luck too far with such a question. Metal Sonic looked at the ground with his arms crossed while reluctantly admitting quietly, " ...201. " Sonic and Tails were shocked at hearing this, and Tails' eyes went as big as marbles when he realized how experienced he really was.

" Wow! You had enough time on your hands to go through it _that_ much? But I thought you were always cooped up in the base unless Eggman sent you out of it for a mission. I doubt Eggman sent you here _specifically_ to master going through the area. Were you sent here on a mission a couple times and passed through the area on your way? " Sonic continued to stare at the scene with a nervous smile. He didn't outright stop Tails because it would make it obvious that _he_ was suspicious as well and was covering for Metal Sonic, which wouldn't make him look good to his best friend. That, and seeing if Metal Sonic would snap at Tails was the perfect secret test of character that allowed him to see if he really could be trusted as his ally. So far, he hadn't done anything wrong yet, simply expressed mild annoyance at the kid's nosiness.

Metal Sonic was worried about telling them the truth. But he also knew that if he said yes, Tails would want to know about the missions he was sent on by Eggman, and reminding the two of them that he usually did what Eggman told him to do regardless of their disapproval and his lack of enthusiasm would not do well to cultivate an atmosphere of trust. So he sighed and reluctantly admitted,

" Actually, no... I came here of my own accord. The _idiot_ doesn't keep very good track of all the robots in his base, especially not when he's busy with his latest futile plans, so every so often when I could get away with it, I would sneak out of the base and go _here_ for a few hours. It was a daily thing. I didn't have very much to do with my spare time. Oh, sure, I had something to do in the morning, since the idiot would always tell certain robots of his about his newest plans and inventions every meal and my attendance was _required,_ but that was often _it,_ so I would find myself with long stretches of the day with absolutely nothing to do. And I didn't want to just spend all of my free time in sleep mode, that seemed like a waste, and, um, I didn't enjoy sleeping as much as I should've. So eventually I decided to start spending my time training and practicing to get better at the things I could do, such as running at the speed of sound, jumping, spin-dashing... "

" All things that Sonic can do? " Tails asked nonchalantly, soon realizing that he had tricked Metal Sonic into being comfortable enough to have a casual conversation with him that would eventually lead into telling him the truth. Sonic was also listening with curiousity, surprised by so many things he heard; Metal Sonic kept referring to his master as " the idiot, " he would sneak out of the base for a few hours on a daily basis a few years ago, he could get bored, he had a lot of free time on his hands, he was reluctant to take naps because he didn't enjoy sleeping, and he had dedicated himself to improving his skills at all of the things his organic counterpart could do.

" Yeah, all those things. I even _taught_ _myself_ the Homing-Attack despite not being originally programmed with the knowledge of the ability! I spent _hours_ every day back then practicing to try to improve my skills, partially to alleviate boredom, and partially to attempt to give myself a feeling of accomplishment, " Metal Sonic explained nonchalantly with a bored tone, although he did seem proud of himself for learning the homing-attack all by himself without Eggman having to download the information into him later. Tails asked in confusion and curiousity, " Attempt? "

" Well, it wasn't as satisfying as I'd _hoped._ It may have been because I had no one there to compare myself to. It's not like Sonic was right there with me competing with me and showing me how I had progressed. So I set the bar too high and aimed for perfection because I didn't know where to stop, and all it did was stress me out when I noticed every mistake I would inevitably make and focused on the mistakes instead of my actual progress. I-I wouldn't truly get the sense of accomplishment I wanted because I had _impossibly_ high standards for myself because I didn't know when to stop! I started going through Green Hill Zone because I heard Sonic had been there and I wanted to get as good at it as possible for the sake of it, but because I had no idea what his _record_ was, I kept going through it over and over again setting better and better times being unable to feel _satisfied_ with them because I didn't know what they _meant._ All I noticed was the mistakes that I would inevitably make whenever I was even a millisecond off in any of my jumps and all I focused on was _them,_ so after a certain point, when I had set a record I was _completely_ _unable_ to beat, I was always finishing the area less satisfied with myself when I finished than when I came in. It was a vicious cycle. A _negative_ _feedback_ _loop,_ " Metal Sonic explained with a melancholic tone that became more nervous at a certain point.

Sonic and Tails couldn't believe what they were seeing. Was Metal Sonic actually insecure of his own skills? If he was truly proud, he would've been proud of himself for his skills and focused only on his improvements, but it seemed more like he was only focusing on his flaws and mistakes, being a perfectionist to himself and stressing himself out more and more every day. And that was two and a half years ago. Why two and a half? Sonic's eyes soon widened in realization when he remembered that two years ago, he had fought Metal Sonic after he rebelled against Eggman and impersonated him to get another fight with Sonic. Two years ago, was the Metal Overlord Incident. And two and a half years ago, he was running himself ragged trying to surpass him in every aspect, and failing to feel the sense of accomplishment he should've gotten from whenever he improved, only managing to stress himself out even further.

" Why didn't you stop? " Tails asked sadly, with his eyes full of pity. It was clear that he had figured out just how stressed out Metal Sonic's perfectionism against himself had made him. " I-I couldn't... I just _couldn't._ The logical part of my mind was telling me to. Intellectually, I knew that it was only stressing me out, that I wasn't coming home in a better mood from being satisfied with myself like I intended, that I _already_ had _enough_ stress in my life and the _last_ thing I needed was more, but I-I just couldn't bring myself to _stop,_ because I was _certain_ that if I stopped training, my skills would get rusty and I would lose all of the progress I had made. It was _important_ to me. _Too_ important. The logical part of my mind was constantly warning me that I had improved as much as I could've and so I was gaining _nothing_ but _stress_ from those endeavors, but the emotional part just couldn't stop fixating on trying to prove I wasn't inferior and _pathetic_ as a result, and the fact that I had nothing else to _do_ didn't help, so eventually the stress started building up and everything spiraled out of control! I tried to hide it by bottling it up and acting calm and emotionless, but every so often something would irritate me so much that I'd _release_ _it_ in the form of complaining, and if it weren't for that and my daily combat training, which only lasts for 30 minutes, it would've happened so much sooner... I-I, it eventually got too much for me to handle... and I, I made a lot of mistakes... I'm sure you remember it, the, result... It's something I've never been proud of. I wasn't thinking straight when it happened. I was just so stressed out about everything in my life and eventually it got to me! "

He went from looking nervous and anxious to looking depressed, and said, " All of the stresses in my life seemed to stem from being a robot based off Sonic and all of the pressure that it came with, everything I had to live up to, everything I _didn't_ _have,_ and all because I was based on him. So eventually it got to the point where I couldn't handle it anymore, and... well, you remember the result. If I was thinking straight, I wouldn't have said those things or done any of that. It wouldn't have happened sooner and it'll _never_ happen again. It was just the culmination of so much stress of the high expectations and what I didn't have and the _misery_ of having to work for _Eggman_ that was all _bottled_ _up_ until it all came out at _once,_ and after it happened, I lost all hope. I didn't have the motivation to do _anything_ anymore. Eggman had to slightly reprogram me because of all that; dealing with the obsession, getting my motivation back, toning down the envy and dissatisfaction. When he was done, I went from stressed out and about to _snap_ to _bitter and depressed_ , because he still hadn't erased my memories. I still remembered what my life was like and I wasn't satisfied with it. But I _was_ thinking clearly again, and it was because of this that I realized I had to find a better way to pass the time. I had to stop training. "

Sonic and Tails listened to him open up to them with a melancholic and reluctant tone, filled with sympathy for him. They always knew that the Metal Overlord incident had occurred because Metal Sonic was fed up with losing to Sonic so much, but they had always assumed it was purely out of hatred and a desire for petty vengeance that he had gone to such extreme lengths to defeat him that time. They didn't know that it was the culmination of years of stress from the pressure of being Sonic's robot counterpart and the stress of his life working for Eggman and his envy of how much better Sonic had it. They didn't know that he had become so stressed out and focused on proving he wasn't pathetic that he became obsessed with trying to get better than Sonic to the detriment of his mental health. From the way Metal Sonic talked about it, saying that he wasn't thinking straight, it was clear to the two of them that the Metal Overlord incident had happened because he had a complete mental breakdown, which explained why he suddenly thought he was Sonic perfectly. He hadn't thought that before, and he never thought that again. It was a nervous breakdown that caused him to do all that. And it was clear that he understood that himself because he was nothing but embarrassed when talking about it. He was ashamed of the way he had acted. He was sorry.

They couldn't believe Metal Sonic had regrets. Sonic had seen a side of him he had never seen before. He was more than just a mindless killing machine. He was more than just a robot programmed to defeat him. He actually had depths. After realizing this, Sonic started to feel guilty about not trusting him to be alone with Tails or searching for any emeralds alone during the truce, since he had made it very clear that they were allies at the moment and it was purely from force of habit that he was taking precautionary measures. He wondered if Metal Sonic could be trusted without being supervised by him. He had already passed his first secret test of character with flying colors, not snapping at Tails even though he had every reason to, so Sonic had a good reason to think that another test would work. While everyone sticking together and searching the same area at the same time would mean they'd have people to protect them if they got into danger and help them if they were hurt, they'd find the Chaos Emeralds a lot quicker if they split up, even though Tails would need convincing. Sonic and Tails listened to what he was confessing with sympathy and curiousity. They couldn't believe he was opening up to them, and they hoped he wouldn't realize it and stop.

Metal Sonic started to smile a little as he continued, " Then Orbot suggested that I start reading books as my main way of passing the time, and that's been my hobby ever since. I used it as a method of escapism and to alleviate boredom, as well as to provide myself with new information. They were the _perfect_ distraction, and they still are to this day! Over time I started to get an idea of my own personal tastes and what books I was interested in, and I started reading more and more non-fiction, wanting to find out about the world in the only way I could. After all, I can't exactly go out and explore the world for myself with the reputation I have, so the only way I could satisfy my curiousity and experience the world I've been kept away from was through books. I've read everything from encyclopedias to history books to the dictionary, none of which are books that _Sonic_ would be _interested_ in, and it's because of _that_ that I was able to come to terms with the fact that I had a separate identity from him. I was able to be comfortable with it, even proud of it in some ways, and it's because of those books that my life has become a lot more tolerable! Still miserable, of course, but not unbearable. If anything, I'm a lot more content than I was before, and all because I got something else to do. " He smiled genuinely, causing Sonic and Tails to smile as well; not only because they were relieved that he wasn't as miserable as before, but also because if the Metal Overlord Incident was what could happen if the stress got to him, then him becoming more of a well-read bookworm and intellectual was a very good thing.

Knowing he had to say something quickly to try to prevent him from figuring out he had opened up to his enemies, Tails said with a smile, " That's good! That's good to hear. I read books like that a lot, too. It's nice to see we aren't so different, " and giggled. Of course, he soon gasped and became worried and nervous when he realized that there was plenty about Metal Sonic that he didn't _want_ to have in common with him, and remembered how afraid of him he was. Noticing his change in demeanor, Metal Sonic sighed and said, " We should return to searching for the emerald. So far we've spent more time on South Island _talking_ than doing what we _came_ _for,_ " and ran off at the speed of sound in the direction of the second third of Green Hill Zone, causing Sonic to smile in excitement at another race and say with a laugh, " Hey, no fair! I wasn't ready yet! Come on, Tails! " causing Tails to follow him as they ran through the area.

It wasn't long before all of Green Hill Zone had been searched, with Tails being the one finding the Chaos Emerald. " Guys, I found it! " Tails yelled out when he found it near the end of the last third of the hill, causing Metal Sonic to reluctantly stop running through the hill as he had practiced, start hovering, and fly back to him and start standing in front of him with Sonic running up to the two of them with a grin. " Great job, little bro! We'll have all of them before we know it! " Sonic exclaimed happily. Metal Sonic was a little annoyed that _he_ hadn't been the one who found the emerald, but he knew that he couldn't express his disappointment without getting everyone annoyed with him, so he kept it to himself.

Suddenly, Tails' stomach rumbled, and he laughed nervously in embarrassment while scratching the back of his neck, saying nervously, " I-It's lunchtime, isn't it? " Metal Sonic looked up in the sky and stated, " The sun is at its highest point, so I would say it most _certainly_ _is._ I suppose now we'll be flying back to your home to obtain some sustenance? " with his arms crossed and a bored expression as usual. His internal clock allowed him to check what time it was whenever he wanted to, so he didn't need to look at the sun to determine if it was lunchtime; he was mostly just being facetious, taking the opportunity to be sarcastic and get away with it. Fortunately for him, he did, because as he expected, his sarcasm was so subtle that it wasn't noticed at all.

Seeing the perfect opportunity to give Metal Sonic another secret test of character, Sonic grinned and said energetically, " I have a better idea! We're only _three_ miles away from the nearest town! And you know what's in that town? A chili dog stand! Why don't I run there real quick and get us a bite to eat? " Confused, Tails asked, " But won't a panic be created when Metal Sonic shows up there? " A part of him worried that Sonic meant he was leaving him alone with Metal Sonic, and he hoped in his thoughts, " _Oh, Sonic, don't tell me you're doing what I think you're doing!_ "

Sonic felt a little sorry for Tails for what he was going to do, but if it meant proving to him that he could trust Metal Sonic not to hurt him and making him less uneasy around him, it would be worth it. So he laughed a little and ruffled his hair before saying affectionately, " Don't worry, Tails, you'll be fine! I'll be right back! " and sped off at the speed of sound, knowing that Metal wouldn't do anything to hurt him.

Tails gasped with a frightened expression and called out, " W-Wait, Sonic! You _can't_ just... " and trailed off, worried about what would happen if he finished his thought right in front of the one he was referring to. There was an awkward silence as he and Metal Sonic were left alone. Understanding his fear, Metal Sonic sighed wearily, rolled his eyes and sat down in front of a tree with his arms and legs crossed, muttering, " What I wouldn't give for a book. "

At first, being left alone with Metal Sonic was nerve-wracking for Tails, as he constantly worried that Metal Sonic would use this opportunity to attack him, and the fact that the robot was bored wasn't helping his case, since he might give into temptation and fight him just to give himself something to do. But after only a minute, it soon became clear that such a fight was never going to happen, and Tails slightly calmed down from being anxious and frantically worried. The silence went from nerve-wracking and intimidating to awkward and boring, and Tails felt the temptation to attempt to try and talk with the only company he had simply to pass the time. " Y-You sure like books, don't you? " Tails asked with a nervous smile, still not entirely trusting him. " Obviously, " Metal Sonic deadpanned, looking at the ground instead of him; he seemed to have a problem with making eye contact with other people, only doing it when he was listening very intently or giving out very important information.

Tails had to hold back a sigh of sadness and exasperation at his annoyed but straightforward response. He was starting to think that Metal Sonic didn't appreciate small talk. And he was right; Metal Sonic preferred meaningful conversations over pointless chitchat that served no other purpose than to fill an uncomfortable silence. For once, Tails wasn't surprised by his behavior that day. After all, nobody would expect a robot like Metal Sonic to appreciate small talk or even participate in it. His behavior had surprised him a lot, but unlike Sonic, he was more likely to push the thought that he was revealing his true self into the back of his mind out of caution and wariness of being too trusting of him. Wondering if he could trick him into revealing more about himself by starting an actual conversation in a subtle way, Tails asked politely, " S-So, where do you get them? "

Metal Sonic became worried upon hearing that question, and his expression showed it. " Um... The library... In the _base!_ Y-Yeah, in home base... " he said nervously, his now shrunken red eyes looking everywhere except at him. The truth was that he would send Metal Knuckles to the library in Station Square in his Knuckles Android body to borrow books for him. In fact, he sent him on those " missions " so often that said robot and the librarian soon interacted with each other just like old friends, with Metal Knuckles being his polite, friendly and good-natured self, and the librarian being oblivious to who he really was and appreciating his friendliness and innocence so much that eventually, she started giving him books as gifts. Those books tended to be ones that she was supposed to get rid of due to the lack of people checking them out, but the fact that she gave them to him instead of destroying them meant a lot. This meant that all of Metal Sonic's books came from the library in Station Square, and the ones he actually owned were gifts from the librarian to Metal Knuckles.

There actually was a library in his home base, but the information in it was tightly controlled by Eggman, and records were kept of which robots checked out which books, and this discouraged Metal Sonic from going there. After all, when he first started reading, he used the books that Sonic had read as a starting point, getting Metal Knuckles to take a picture of Sonic's bookshelf to find out what books he owned, and the last thing he wanted was Eggman asking all sorts of questions about why he was reading books that Sonic had read, and later, non-fiction books like encyclopedias and history books. Granted, he didn't do anything to hide the fact that he read books in front of Eggman, but since Eggman was completely self-absorbed, he never bothered to ask him why he was reading that particular book if he even noticed at all.

Metal Sonic could see from the confused and worried look on Tails' face that he was suspicious and could tell he was lying to him, and telling the truth would make him trust him more... or would it? Telling him the truth would require explaining to him all about how Metal Knuckles has been sent out to Station Square impersonating Knuckles, and he refused to compromise any future missions by revealing that fact. He couldn't trust Tails in his worried state not to " warn " Sonic that a Knuckles imposter was visiting the library in Station Square every time Sonic was on an adventure and Eggman was busy dealing with him. He couldn't risk the world finding out that Metal Knuckles could disguise himself as Knuckles and make him unable to return to Station Square without raising far more suspicion if he doesn't act exactly like Knuckles, which he refused to do because he didn't like how Knuckles acted and he didn't want to act like someone he wasn't. It was bad enough that Metal Knuckles acted cheerful and naive and said things like, " Okey-dokey, " when in Station Square, acting differently from how Knuckles acts and saying things he'd never say. Occasionally someone would get suspicious and ask him if he hit his head recently, but that was as far as the accusations would go, and they could be easily dealt with by Metal Knuckles either saying they're right or saying that Knuckles acts more friendly and laidback when Sonic's not annoying him.

But if people knew there could actually be a Knuckles impersonator in Station Square, Metal Knuckles wouldn't be able to go back without raising too much suspicion. He wouldn't be able to experience the world through the eyes of someone on Sonic's side anymore, he wouldn't be able to enjoy himself outside Eggman's base anymore, and more importantly, he wouldn't be able to get him books anymore. All of those were potential consequences of revealing to the frantically worried Tails that Metal Knuckles was being sent to Station Square disguised as Knuckles, because the kid was so nervous and untrusting at this point that he'd be paranoid enough to think Metal Knuckles was only going to cause trouble and ruin his friend's reputation. Tails didn't know him well enough to know how false that was.

Metal Sonic knew that his younger brother was a nice guy who was too naive and innocent to want to ruin Knuckles' reputation; if anything, his acting polite and good-natured in Station Square was doing a lot to improve it. But Tails would never believe him if he tried to explain this. Besides, Sonic did say he would be right back, and he didn't want him to show up while he was in the middle of explaining it and have even more people know the secret. So even though Tails was suspicious, to the point of wondering if he had stolen those books, Metal Sonic knew that telling him the truth was not a wise idea. It would only end up putting Metal Knuckles in danger.

Suddenly, a blue blur appeared on the horizon, and instantly sped from the horizon to right in front of the two of them and stopped, revealing itself to be Sonic having run at the speed of sound back to where they were. He was holding two chili dogs in his hand with an eager grin on his face. He said with excitement, " Hey, little bro! I got us some lunch! Let's eat! " and sat down on the grass with Tails to enjoy the lunch he had bought for them. He would've been rather disappointed if he found out that Metal Sonic and Tails barely spoke to each other while he was gone, but the sheer fact that Tails was unharmed by him was enough to put him in an even better mood than he was when he left. He was right to trust him.

" Man, I love chili dogs! They're the most _delicious_ food in the _whole entire world!_ I could have them _every_ day! And I do! " Sonic said with a smile after taking his first bite. Metal Sonic rolled his eyes at Sonic's enthusiasm, and stared at the sight of the two of them sitting on the ground eating chili dogs with his arms crossed and a weary expression on his face, thinking,

" _Those two should really be eating something more healthy for lunch. Is that really their idea of a healthy diet? How can they can stay healthy enough to fulfill their responsibilities as the heroes if that juvenile hedgehog insists on eating things with not nearly enough nutrition?... Although I suppose it does make sense for them to eat them if they taste that excellent. Sometimes I wish robots could eat. B-But why would I want that? Of course we don't eat. We don't need to! I-I'm glad I'm a robot! An organic body would be too much work. All I need to do to keep myself functioning properly is breathe so that I don't eventually run out of energy, and go into sleep mode at night for at least nine and a half hours... Unfortunately, sleeping isn't as easy for me as it should be. Those damn nightmares... N-Not that I'm scared or anything. I-I just don't want to put up with even more misery than I usually do. It's bad enough I'm miserable while awake. I don't need to suffer while asleep, too. I bet Sonic doesn't have nightmares. Arrgh, not again! Why does everything I think about have to eventually come back to Sonic?! At least I'm not nearly as overly fixated on him as I used to be. At least I have that to be thankful for... Well, I shouldn't think that, I have a lot to be thankful for. Even in a world where I'm almost universally despised, there are still people who care about me. Unfortunately, those people happen to be kidnapped, but that's why I'm going to rescue them, and make whoever is responsible pay for what they did! And I'm being allowed to be here with Sonic and Tails and get their assistance in carrying out the most important mission I've ever had in my life. I still can't believe I was lucky enough to get their assistance. I thought for sure I'd have to go to Shadow for help and hope against hope that I convince the ultimate lifeform to trust me. True, he trusted me the last time we went on an adventure together, but that was because the idiot removed my ability to speak in favor of putting speakerphones in me and told him that he sent me to him, so the ultimate lifeform knew for a fact that I wouldn't betray him. As if I'd ever do that!... I wish he knew that... But I could never get him to believe it._ "

Noticing Metal Sonic sitting in front of the tree melancholically looking at the ground with his arms and legs crossed in the position easily recognizable as that of a teen drowned in thought, Sonic asked Tails with a smile, " So, did you two talk while I was gone? " hoping Metal had opened up to him more; he had barely spoken since the adventure began. Tails said nervously, " Not really. I asked him where he got his books, and he said there was a library in Eggman's base. " Believing the lie, Sonic said with a laugh, " Huh. Never would've imagined an entire library in the base of _that_ evil genius, but I guess since he's supposed to be a smart guy, it makes sense that he'd have a lot of books around. " After hearing that, Metal Sonic thought, " _Smart guy, yeah right,_ " and rolled his eyes. Sonic continued cheerfully, " Although I can't imagine anyone other than him and Metal Sonic actually visiting it. All the other robots are probably too busy and not interested in reading. Right, Metal? "

There was a brief silence. " Huh? Uh, y-yeah, that is correct. S-Sorry, I was just deep in thought about something... " Metal Sonic replied nervously, surprised at actually being addressed in what he thought was purely a two-way conversation. Sonic usually just talked with Tails. He wasn't used to not being ignored. He didn't expect to be actually included in the conversation. He didn't expect to be included at all.

Tails looked at him in confusion and nervousness, surprised that he had actually said the word, " sorry, " and stuttered a little in his speech. That was the second time he had heard Metal Sonic stutter or stammer when he spoke, the first time being during the first plane ride after he was asked if the plan for the emeralds was a good one. Metal Sonic was actually acting awkward and shy, which was something that was difficult to get used to. While Tails was curious about what he was thinking about, Sonic thought nothing of it and returned to having friendly banter with Tails about nothing in particular while eating lunch with him.

It wasn't long before they had returned to where they had left the Tornado-1. During the plane ride to their next destination, Angel Island, Sonic had a cheerful conversation with Tails about nothing in particular to reassure him that everything was fine, while Metal Sonic sat completely silent in the back seat, staring at the scenery below and worrying about how long the mission was taking. The cheerful banter hid what Sonic was truly worrying about from everyone else. Knuckles was on Angel Island, and he knew that he wouldn't approve of Metal Sonic being there, and no amount of convincing would make him understand. He would accuse Metal Sonic of having ulterior motives, like trying to steal his emerald or the Chaos Emeralds for himself, and using Sonic and Tails as his pawns. Worst case scenario, he might accuse Sonic and Tails of joining Eggman's side just because they're traveling with Metal Sonic. That was how cynical he was; he was always prone to thinking the worst of Sonic, and even today, he still didn't completely trust him, thinking of him as a reckless idiot and feeling like his cocky and carefree attitude was just to make people let their guards down.

" Alright, little bro, now we can't land the plane near Marble Garden Zone itself because Knuckles will see it in the sky; we all know he would _never_ approve of _Metal Sonic_ being with us, and the _last_ thing we need is for him to jump to the wrong conclusions. So why don't we land the plane in Mushroom Hill Zone where there's a lot of trees for cover? Then, we'll run all the way to where we really need to be and then make our way back! Sound good? " Sonic said with a smile. Tails replied nervously, " Yeah, that's probably the best idea. Knuckles can't know what we're doing. If he saw Metal Sonic here, he'd freak! "

The plane flew around the floating island to reach a forest full of giant mushrooms near the edge of it, and Tails carefully landed it in a glade surrounded by trees where Knuckles wouldn't be able to see the plane in the sky. Sonic jumped off the wing to land on the ground on his feet, while Metal waited for the plane to stop moving before unbuckling his seatbelts and carefully getting out of the plane with Tails.

After everyone had gotten out of the plane, Sonic said to Tails with a smile, " Alright, so here's what we'll do! We'll all run from here to Marble Garden Zone, and when we reach there, you and I will search the western side while Metal will search the eastern side! That way, if Knuckles finds us, he won't see us with one of Eggman's most infamous robots and jump to the wrong conclusions. He's always prone to worrying that the worst has happened and thinking the worst of everyone. "

Metal Sonic thought with his arms crossed and a mildly annoyed expression, " _Sounds just like me. Well, at least I know that Sonic trusts me to go carry out the mission alone. Unfortunately, I haven't memorized any of the areas on Angel Island, having only gone through them twice, so this won't be as easy as it was in Green Hill Zone. Sonic and Tails remember this place better than I do, so at least they'll be able to warn me of any threats I'm not aware of._ "

Tails was nervous about the prospect of letting Metal Sonic try to search for the emerald unsupervised, worrying that he would try to steal the Master Emerald or use a Chaos Emerald to make himself more powerful, but he tried to calm down by reminding himself that Metal knew he wouldn't be able to keep having their help if he did that.

Metal Sonic questioned, " So are there any dangers on this island that I'm not aware of? " with a serious expression. Sonic and Tails immediately looked at him when he said that; he was usually so quiet that it was always surprising when he said anything at all. Sonic explained cheerfully, " It's just a straight shot from here to Marble Garden Zone. We just run through the woods and we're there! There's no dangers that weren't there in Green Hill Zone. We're perfectly safe! There's _nothing_ safer than a _forest!_ "

Metal Sonic looked annoyed and worried, and said with a serious expression, looking paranoid in the process, " A forest is _hardly_ without any dangers to be found! All those trees block your view and prevent you from seeing if there are any threats coming near you! What if a bear attacks us and we couldn't see it coming because the trees were in the way? Forests are full of dangerous wildlife that won't hesitate to attack you! Even the _plant_ _life_ can be dangerous; what if you run into some poison ivy or eat some berries not knowing that they're poisonous? Just because it's natural doesn't mean it's safe! True, that isn't a threat to _me,_ but the two of you still need to watch out for it! Not to mention how dangerous it is being in an area surrounded by trees when a storm's going on! What if a tree nearby gets, _struck_ _by_ _lightning_ and catches on fire?! It's already _bad_ _enough_ that this floating _deathtrap_ of an island is so high up in the sky and lightning always strikes the highest point. This place probably gets struck by lightning more than all of the lightning rods in the world! The less time we spend here, the better! " He had cringed and looked very nervous at mentioning lightning. Even trees being electrocuted was too strong of a reminder.

Seeing how worried Tails was because of his own fear of lightning, Sonic laughed nervously and said while trying not to sound antagonistic, " Uh, Metal? Y-You're kinda worrying Tails here. You're probably right about all this stuff, but let's not let that prevent us from enjoying our time here, you know? It's not all bad. "

Metal Sonic soon realized that Sonic was basically giving him a warning, and that if he kept going, he would've gotten himself into trouble. He quickly became annoyed with himself upon remembering that he had to behave in a manner Sonic approved of so that he wouldn't risk the alliance.

After looking scared from almost getting in trouble and then annoyed with himself for the mistake, Metal Sonic sighed and admitted nervously, " S-Sorry I got all worked up. Cloudy days put me on edge, and I haven't watched the weather report today, " which surprised Sonic and Tails, who not only were not expecting an apology, but also couldn't believe that Eggman's most infamous robot watched the weather report on a daily basis. They were curious about why cloudy days put him on edge, but refrained from asking why because it would be too personal a question. Since Sonic had heard him spending an unusually long amount of time talking about the dangers of lightning, he wondered if the reason he hated cloudy days was that he was afraid of lightning, and wondered why that was the case. And even though he didn't share Metal Sonic's uneasiness with a forest full of nature, he was at least thankful that Metal disliked such a natural area out of concern for his safety rather than wanting it to be polluted and mechanized like Eggman.

Trying to avoid looking weak by showing how worried he was that he was in trouble, Metal Sonic started walking through the woods and being followed by Sonic and Tails as a result as he said with a serious expression,

" I'm just saying there are _dangers_ to look out for. You have to remain ever vigilant, and stay alert, and never let your guards down, because all it would take is _one_ threat rushing up to us because we weren't _completely_ _aware_ of our _surroundings._ The two of you need to be careful so that nothing will happen to you during the mission, especially _you._ " He looked at Tails briefly after saying that, and continued, " As the child that Sonic's looking after, it is his responsibility to ensure that nothing will happen to you, and since I'm here on a mission with you, it is my responsibility, as well. The last thing we need is for anything to happen to a vital member of our team. "

Sonic and Tails couldn't believe it. Metal Sonic was actually expressing concern about their safety. He actually understood how it felt to feel a responsibility to protect the weak. They had always assumed Metal Sonic would rather attack the weak to show off how powerful he is. And yet, even though he must have thought of the two of them as weaker than him, he didn't dismiss them as useless or unnecessary because of it. Instead, he felt a duty to protect them, warning them about the potential dangers that could await them and making it clear that he didn't want anything to happen to them. Even though he clearly thought that Tails was the weakest member of the team, he acknowledged that he was still a vital part of it - probably because they needed someone to fly the plane - and he felt the need to protect him as a result. Tails felt conflicted about hearing that. On the one hand, he was upset that Metal Sonic underestimated his combat prowess and wanted to protect him because of his young age, seeing him as just a child in need of protection. But on the other hand, he couldn't help but find it heartwarming that Metal Sonic would feel a desire to protect a child like him from being hurt, even if he did personally benefit from doing so. He wondered if Sonic was right to trust him. Of course, he soon went right back to being wary of him when he came to the conclusion that Metal only cared about them because they were necessary for the completion of his mission, meaning that as soon as the truce ended, he would go back to wanting them dead. Because of this train of thought, Tails went from looking confused to smiling warmly to looking worried and wary in the span of seconds, while Sonic, who didn't think about the possibility that Metal only cared because of the alliance, simply smiled in approval.

Not wanting to look like he had gone soft, Metal Sonic said to them in a serious no-nonsense tone, " The mission won't get done in time if we simply _walk_ for all of it. I suggest that we run through this wooded area and not cease until we reach our destination, " changing the subject in a hurry. Sonic said cheerfully, " Good idea, Metal! " and responded to Metal Sonic flying forwards at the speed of sound by running after him, with Tails following him at a slightly slower speed. The three of them sped through Mushroom Hill Zone as fast as they could, going through it with similar skill. Although Sonic had been there before, it was only once five years ago, so his skills were rather rusty, and since Tails was three-years-old when he went through there with Sonic, he naturally had no memories of being there at such a young age, so it was like he was going through it for the first time. Sonic had gotten into another impromptu race with Metal Sonic, and it was a good thing that he wasn't a sore loser when losing didn't mean much, because Metal Sonic was in the lead, due to his ability to fly removing the necessity for him to jump; Tails could fly in his own way, but he couldn't fly as fast as him.

By the time they had finished going through the mushroom-filled forest, several minutes had passed. Sonic ran up to Metal Sonic laughing a little from enjoying the race, with Tails catching up to them soon afterwards. " That was fun! You did great, Metal! " he said with a laugh. Sonic soon noticed that Metal Sonic was staring at Marble Garden Zone with his arms crossed and a serious expression. After a few seconds, Metal looked up at the sky to see where the sun was, and Sonic asked, " What's up, Metal? "

" I'm ascertaining what direction we are facing by analyzing where the sun is in the sky and what time of day it is. After all, the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, and we need to search different sides of the area, so determining which way is north is a necessity. I have determined that we are facing north right now, so my method has been a success, " Metal Sonic answered nonchalantly. He had an internal compass in him as an upgrade, so he didn't entirely need to go to all that trouble just to find out what direction he was facing, but he just wanted to be sure. Sonic couldn't help but be amazed that he was so good at analyzing things and getting information from it and determining what to do as a result of that, and yet acted like it was no big deal; although he supposed he shouldn't be so surprised that a robot was an expert at analyzing and processing data. Still, not even Tails had thought to do that, and he analyzed the world around him better than Sonic ever could without even thinking anything of it.

Metal Sonic turned to him and asked nonchalantly, " Are you aware of where exactly in the area the part of it we're looking at is? If it's in the middle, or the west, or the east? That information would be rather convenient. " After two seconds of shocked silence from still trying to get used to how skilled he was at analysis, Sonic said with a casual smile, " Yeah, we're right in the middle of the Marble Garden Zone, looking at the southern part - apparently - so now all we have to do is go to the left part while you go to the right part, and we'll go through the plan just like I planned! Heh heh! "

Then, he noticed something red in the distance, and said nervously, " Uh-oh. " Expecting a threat, Metal Sonic immediately turned to look at what Sonic must have seen, and noticed that Knuckles was sitting on the ground in the distance past the bushes to the left of them, thankfully with his back turned to them so he couldn't see them in the bushes. Metal Sonic thought with his eyes widened in surprise and confusion, " _Is that..._ " only to look annoyed with himself, facepalm and think, " _Of course not, you idiot, he's imprisoned right now._ " For a moment, Metal Sonic had mistakenly thought he saw Metal Knuckles in his Knuckles disguise, only to be annoyed with himself for making such a mistake. He barely ever interacted with Knuckles, and he had no presence in his life, but he saw Metal Knuckles in his disguise on a regular basis, so it made sense that he would instinctively think he was looking at someone else from force of habit.

Understanding the problem that being seen by Knuckles would result in, Metal Sonic said in a serious but annoyed tone, " Well, _this_ presents a _problem._ I suggest that you two distract him and ensure that he's facing the _other_ _way_ while I fly to the most eastern part of the area and start my search there. If you can get him to _leave,_ that would be most optimal. " Sonic smiled and gave him a thumbs-up while Tails looked nervous, feeling wary about the fact that Sonic was letting Metal Sonic make plans for the team; he felt the most comfortable when it was clear that Sonic was the leader as he should be, and letting Metal Sonic make his own decisions about what to do made Tails feel like it upset the power dynamic. But he couldn't just tell Sonic that, because he would just dismiss his worries as him being overly pessimistic and reassure him that things would be fine.

The two of them walked over to Knuckles and approached him, making sure to speak to him from the western side of him so that Metal Sonic would be able to avoid getting spotted by him. Sonic said with a nervous smile and a carefree tone that was forced, " _Hey,_ Knuckles! What'cha _doing_ here? S-Shouldn't you be guarding the Master Emerald like you're _supposed_ to? " He laughed nervously, and Tails joined in with him as he saw Metal Sonic flying off to the east in the distance, and hoped that he was going where he said he was.

Knuckles looked nervous and embarrassed before standing up and saying to them with a nervous smile, " Well, I _could_ be doing that. But I've thinking lately; I haven't been spending much time helping you guys out since I met you. So I figured, why not help you the next time you show up? It must take a while doing whatever it is you're doing with only two people, so why don't I help while you're still on my island? " Knuckles was able to tell the Master Emerald to shrink down to the size of a pebble and hide it in his shoe, which was why he had no problem with not spending very much time at the shrine for the past few years; he was guarding it in a way that _didn't_ require him to sit around in one spot all day. But he couldn't let anyone find out about that and risk people coming after him trying to steal his shoes and thus the emerald in the process, so he chose against telling Sonic and Tails that the emerald was fine.

Meanwhile, Sonic and Tails looked nervous at his offer. They knew Metal Sonic would be meeting with them at the middle part of Marble Garden Zone after searching all of the eastern part, and they couldn't risk Knuckles seeing him there. But they could benefit from having him help them search the western side - a side of the area far away from where Metal was - and if Metal showed up at the middle part, Tails could distract Knuckles while Sonic and Metal would run back to the plane. So, after a few seconds where they looked nervous, they looked at each other, and then at him, before Tails said nervously, " We're here looking for a Chaos Emerald. We'll go from the western side of the area to back here, searching for it as we go through the area. You can come along if you want, as long as you stay within our sight so we know where you are. "

Knuckles said with a smile, " Great! I'll meet you on the western side! " and ran to the west at a fast speed, disappearing out of their sight as Sonic stayed behind to tell Tails about the plan. " Okay, you'll distract Knuckles if you see Metal Sonic here, and keep him from seeing me getting Metal to go straight to the plane, and when he's finally out of sight, we'll tell him we _just_ remembered the emerald was somewhere else and run to the plane. Got it? " Tails said nervously, " Got it, " and the two of them ran after Knuckles as fast as they could, knowing he would get suspicious if they made him wait any longer. If they weren't so concerned about the possibility of Knuckles finding out Metal Sonic was on the island, they would be suspicious of why Knuckles was suddenly acting so friendly and willing to help them. The truth was that Knuckles was feeling guilty about getting into so many fights with Sonic with Eggman's encouragement, and was worried that Sonic was considering ending the friendship because he couldn't be trusted not to hurt him and wasn't being as useful to him as he could've been. It was because of those concerns that he had insisted on helping them find a Chaos Emerald. Unfortunately, that insistence of his wasn't nearly as appreciated as he had hoped.

Meanwhile, Metal Sonic was flying through the eastern side of Marble Garden Zone at the speed of sound, searching for a Chaos Emerald, relieved at being alone for the first time since the mission began. He thought, " _Finally, some time to myself! True, it won't last long, but at least now I'm getting a break. I'm constantly being forced to behave and be quiet and keep my thoughts to myself so I won't annoy him with my sarcasm and complaining. I'm forced to hide a major part of my personality by hiding my cynicism and keeping my sarcasm and dry wit so subtle that it looks entirely unintentional! This mission has been absolutely draining on me! The awkward silences in the plane that remind me of how I don't belong, being constantly ignored as Sonic talks to Tails acting like I'm not there, the awkward small talk that makes it clear I'm not being spoken to because I'm accepted, the moments where I let my guard down and look like I've gone soft in the process - I don't know why I decided to tell them my life story just because of one little question from that little fox, who is constantly scared of me and won't stop thinking I'm going to hurt him! Not to mention Sonic being unusually friendly to me in a transparent attempt to try to make me feel included in a group I'm usually excluded from. It's so forced and desperate, he even calls me Metal! A nickname that only my comrades call me! This alliance has been so exhausting and awkward and uncomfortable... although I suppose it's a lot better than it could have been. I suppose it is a good thing that Sonic is trying to be kind to me and treat me like a friend instead of an enemy. I suppose it is a good thing that he listens to my ideas and agrees to go through with my plans instead of being annoyed and suspicious that I'm acting independently instead of doing whatever he wants and not thinking for myself; he's certainly a lot better than my idiot boss, who gets angry at me even making suggestions. I suppose it is a good thing that Sonic is trying to get Tails to trust me for the mission and is actually enjoying himself around me, instead of constantly teasing me and insulting me and arguing with me. But despite how much of an outcast this alliance makes me feel like, at the very least I can take comfort in the fact that Sonic is treating me better than Knuckles. He's making an effort to be friendly to me and act like my presence is wanted, and while it is difficult to get used to, I do appreciate the effort..._ "

As he flew to a higher elevated area in Marble Garden Zone, he thought in confusion, " _He truly is being nice to me, isn't he? Imagine that, Sonic the Hedgehog being nice to me! Treating me like a friend instead of a rival he feels forced to work with!... I don't know how I feel about that... On the one hand, I can't help but be rather suspicious and wary of my lifelong rival suddenly being really friendly and nice to me. What if he's trying to lure me into a false sense of security? What if he's got his own plans? What if he's trying to get me to grow attached to him so that I'll be all the more miserable when I have to return to my old life? So what if it makes me paranoid?! I can't just look on the bright side and be blinded to the potential problems! I can't be optimistic and reckless like him and assume that nothing will go wrong! I can't get my hopes up and assume this means he cares about me when he's only acting this way for the sake of the mission! Hopes only exist to be crushed! Hope only leads to crushing disappointment... Or at least that's what my life has taught me... So I have to stay alert. I can't let down my guard. I can't take any unnecessary risks because I don't have luck to protect me. I must remain ever vigilant and avoid optimism. With the luck I have and the life I've had, I can't afford to be optimistic. It is taking a very big risk letting myself enjoy the friendly way Sonic is treating me and trusting him too much to the point where I'll have a difficult time adjusting to being forced to be his enemy again. Granted, the last time I was sent out to fight him was two years ago, so at this rate, I'll never have to fight him again, but... if that's the case, trusting him might not be so disadvantageous. On the other hand, a part of me appreciates that Sonic's being nice to me instead of mistreating me and clearly being unhappy with my presence. It makes it easier to deal with this. It's bad enough I stick out like a sore thumb around them; let's see, there's Sonic, Tails, and Metal Sonic, which one's the odd one out? Oh, I know, it's the ROBOT! As unusual as it is seeing Sonic act nice to me instead of being cocky and taunting me, at least he's helping to alleviate the feeling of awkwardness and make the alliance less uncomfortable by treating me like I belong... This might not be so bad... Right?... Arrgh, this is so CONFUSING! Why am I feeling this way?! Why does everything have to be so complicated?! Why can't my life just be simple, for ONCE?! Something about being around Sonic and Tails is causing me to constantly look weak! I let myself answer questions I shouldn't, and I end up revealing I care about Tails' safety and telling them I had a nervous breakdown! WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME?! I'm supposed to be seen as a powerful opponent, not... who I really am... I-I mean, o-o-o-obviously I AM a powerful opponent to Sonic, but, what I mean is, he's starting to see the real me... I don't know how I feel about that. Should I try to throw him off my trail, or let him in and see how things work out?_ "

As he continued to search for the Chaos Emerald, he felt increasingly confused and conflicted, torn between enjoying his alliance with Sonic and hating it. The former would give him short-term happiness only to make him all the more miserable when he has to end the truce. The latter would only make his alliance even more difficult, making it harder for him to accomplish his mission. The former would make him look like he had gone soft if he didn't try to hide the fact that he was enjoying himself around Sonic, but the latter would risk the alliance by annoying Sonic if he makes his frustration clear. Both options had their pros and cons, but due to Metal Sonic's pessimism, he focused entirely on the cons of both, and it soon became clear that he wasn't going to change his behavior around Sonic by taking either of them. He knew that he was showing his true self around Sonic for the first time ever, or at least most of it, and he didn't know how to feel about that.

As he reached the middle part of Marble Garden Zone, flying south at the speed of sound, he thought, " _Well, at least it's not as bad as it could be. Sonic doesn't know about my greatest fear, he doesn't know that I suffer from nightmares every time I go into sleep mode, he hasn't seen me make any major mistakes, and so far, Sonic and Tails seem to be becoming less likely to call off the truce as opposed to more. As long as I keep doing what I've already been doing and don't push my luck, everything should be- no, I won't even think it. That's tempting fate. And the last thing I want to do is jinx it. Ugh, here I am, an intelligent robot who's meant to think purely based on logic, and I'm thinking about things that have no empirical evidence. Sometimes I hate believing in luck... Wait, is that a Chaos Emerald? Yes! I've found it!_ " He stopped flying and picked up the Chaos Emerald in front of the overturned marble pillar with a triumphant smile.

Soon, he heard the sound of Knuckles talking in the distance to the right of him, and hid behind a marble pillar near some ancient ruins after Sonic saw him. He subtly rolled the emerald over to Sonic, who smiled and gave him a thumbs-up while Knuckles was looking at Tails deep in conversation. Interrupting Knuckles, Sonic said with a smile, " Hey! I found the emerald! " and picked up the Chaos Emerald to show it to Knuckles and Tails, who both looked happy and excited.

Remembering the plan, Tails asked, " S-So, Knuckles, have you enjoyed helping us out today? " with a nervous smile, distracting Knuckles as Sonic quietly went over to Metal Sonic and whispered for him to go back to the plane with him. Sonic and Metal Sonic ran off at the speed of sound, causing Knuckles to hear the sound of rushing wind and turn around to see one blue blur speed off into the bushes; Sonic and Metal's blurs seemed to combine into one from running so close together. " Huh? Hey, he's leaving already? I didn't even get to ap- " Knuckles said in confused disappointment. " We're in a hurry! Bye, Knuckles! " Tails said nervously, before running after the two of them, hoping Knuckles wouldn't follow them.

It wasn't long before Sonic, Tails and Metal Sonic had reached the Tornado-1 at last. When they did, Sonic said with a carefree smile, " Phew! That was close! Great job finding the emerald, Metal! We're proud of you! " and gave him a thumbs-up that made Metal Sonic have a confused and worried expression, feeling even more conflicted as a result. He didn't want to smile and look like he liked Sonic, but he didn't want to frown and look like he was ungrateful for the approval, either. Thankfully, the thumbs-up only lasted a second before Sonic casually jumped onto the wing of the plane in preparation for the next plane ride, and Tails got into the pilot's seat afterwards, which was Metal Sonic's cue to sit in the back seat and buckle his seatbelts and tighten them before the plane took off, and flew up into the sky. The Tornado-1 was flying off Angel Island, and soon became even higher up in the clouds.

Playfully teasing him, Sonic asked with a smile, " So why do you always sit in there with the seatbelts on you all buckled up? " Metal Sonic answered, " For safety reasons, " with a serious expression, and thought in exasperation with him, " _I'd be rather foolish if I went on a plane ride without a seatbelt, Sonic..._ " Sonic chuckled and said cheerfully, " That makes sense! Me, I personally can't stand sitting all buckled up in that tight confined space! Feels _way_ too restrictive for me. I'd rather stand here on the wing of plane, feeling the wind through my hair like I'm flying across the sky! Now _that's_ the feeling of freedom! " Metal Sonic deadpanned with his arms crossed, " Aren't you worried that you'll fall off the plane? " unable to hold back his sarcasm any longer.

Without missing a beat, Sonic said cheerfully, " Nah, I'll be fine! I've done this _hundreds_ of times and nothing went wrong! Besides, I've survived falling to the ground from high distances without getting injured before! I even fell from space a couple times, but I still managed to be A-okay! Besides, if anything happens, Tails will come for me. There's nothing to worry about! "

Metal Sonic looked surprised with his eyes widened at hearing that last sentence, realizing that Sonic must have figured out that he was worried about his safety. His thoughts were interrupted by Sonic saying with a carefree smile, " Now that we've got the emerald from Marble Garden Zone, we've got three out of seven of the emeralds, and it's only been one day! "

Getting worried, Metal Sonic checked his internal clock by imagining a Check Time icon appear in the bottom left of his field of vision and being clicked on and looked at his wrist, causing him to see on his wrist the sight of a digital clock saying 5:05 PM in his mind's eye, and looked over at the sun to confirm it; the sky was various shades of orange, yellow and pink, and the sun was a lot closer to the horizon. He didn't want to admit it, but the sky looked beautiful; he barely ever saw the sun set with his own eyes. But it didn't matter right now. All that mattered was that they were running out of time. He imagined a Back icon appearing and being clicked on to make the digital clock stop obscuring his vision.

Having a feeling of dread, he couldn't help but say out loud in a worried and almost whispered voice, " We're running out of _time._ What if we're too _late?_ What if they... " not knowing how much time he had left to rescue Metal Knuckles, Cubot and Orbot before the worst happened. The worry that he had pushed to the back of his mind for his own sake was unable to be ignored at the moment. Sonic and Tails were, once again, amazed at the compassion he was showing by worrying about someone else's safety. Even Tails was pleasantly surprised at what he said, although still wary as usual.

Wanting to reassure him, Sonic said with a smile, " Don't worry, Metal, we've got plenty of time! 72 hours is a pretty big number, so if they've held them in the base for three days without hurting them, I'm sure four days won't be any different! Trust me, I've got it all under control! Nothing will happen to them as long as I have anything to say about it! " and chuckled.

Under normal circumstances, Metal Sonic would've been annoyed and rolled his eyes at Sonic's immature cocky attitude, but his confidence at the moment actually reassured him. It reminded him that Sonic the Hedgehog was guaranteed to win. Sonic was blessed with more luck than anyone else on the planet. If he set out to do something important, he would do it successfully with a 100% probability of success, all because he's the hero of the world. Soon, his worried expression became a relieved one. As long as Sonic is helping him, his mission is guaranteed a success. The universe wouldn't let anything happen to them if Sonic had anything to say about it.

Changing the subject, Sonic said with a smile, " Since it's getting dark out, I think we should call it a day. Me and Tails are gonna go home and have some dinner before getting some sleep... " Suddenly, he got an idea. Metal Sonic had passed all of the other secret tests of character with flying colors; now he had the perfect test in mind. He just hoped Tails wouldn't object to it too much. " Hey, I've got an idea! Since it's already getting late and it'll take a while for you to get back to Eggman's base, why don't you spend the night at our place? After all, you _are_ part of our team, and you'll have a busy day tomorrow, so you'll need a lot of time to recharge your batteries, and what better way to save time than by staying with us? Besides, you've proven that you can be trusted. You even got a Chaos Emerald for us completely unsupervised, so clearly you're gonna keep your word. How about it, Metal? Just one night? "

Metal Sonic looked worried and confused for a few seconds, feeling conflicted again as he considered agreeing to his offer. Sleeping over at Sonic's house and not doing anything to hurt him would be the perfect way to get Sonic and Tails to trust him for the mission, even if it made him look like he had gone soft. True, Sonic seemed to trust him in his own carefree and optimistic way - even playfully teasing him occasionally, showing how comfortable he was around him to the point of not thinking he would hurt him just from one little tease - but Tails was still frightened of him. Something about that normally cheerful child acting nervous, shy and timid thinking he's going to hurt him when he has no reason to, stressed him out more than he expected, and he wanted to gain his trust because of it. He wouldn't be used to sleeping somewhere other than his bed at home, but he supposed there would be no harm in it. And as long as he slept in the right part of the house, no one would find out he had nightmares on a regular basis, because no one would be there to see him wake up from them. Although it seemed risky staying over at Sonic's house for the night, it wasn't like he would get in trouble for it; the robots in Eggman's base all knew he had left to rescue Eggman, so they wouldn't be suspicious that he hadn't returned to the base for the night, because they'd just assume he was still on the mission. There was nothing to worry about.

Tails was incredibly worried and afraid of the potential consequences of him and Sonic trusting Metal Sonic not to hurt them or do anything evil in their house while they're asleep. He thought nervously, " _Oh, Sonic, why do you have to be so reckless?! Please don't let anything happen to us! Okay, Tails, calm down. Calm down! Metal Sonic hasn't done anything to betray our trust yet. He wouldn't do anything that would make us not help him with his mission anymore. He wouldn't come to us for help if he didn't think he desperately needed it. S-So maybe this won't be so bad. And even if he does try to kill us in our sleep, I'll just lock my door at night, and make Sonic promise to lock his. If he breaks down the door, I'll fly out the window. Oh, I hope this doesn't backfire!_ "

After a few seconds of consideration, Metal Sonic said, " Well, _alright._ It's getting late, and I'm getting low on battery _._ And I _do_ need a lot of energy for tomorrow, so it's _only_ _logical_ that I get some rest as soon as possible. I suppose it _would_ be the most _pragmatic_ choice, " to which Sonic responded, " Great! You won't regret it! " making Tails all the more nervous. This caused him to return to having friendly banter with Tails about nothing in particular to try and reassure him that everything was fine, while Metal Sonic stared at the scenery to the left of him with his metal hand on his chin in boredom, with only Sonic's carefree banter with Tails and the wind blowing around him to listen to. He still couldn't believe Sonic trusted him to stay over at his place for the night. He never could've imagined that things would turn out so well for him. Granted, Tails was still frightened of him, and he still felt like an outcast who didn't belong, but at least Sonic trusted him if no one else did.

Eventually, the Tornado-1 landed on the runway in front of Tails' Workshop, and Sonic jumped off the wing and landed on his feet on the ground below, while Metal Sonic and Tails waited for the plane to stop moving before getting out of it. The three of them quickly went into the house on the hill, with Tails being wary about letting Metal Sonic inside for the night, and Sonic being carefree and optimistic about it.

When Sonic opened the front door, the three of them walked into a living room with a wooden plank floor, a green couch, a brown oval-shaped table with a remote control on it and a widescreen TV in front of it, a green armchair to the left of the couch, and a yellow cabinet near the couch against the wooden plank wall, all to the right of the front door. The living room had two exits to it; a western hallway leading north that led to the washroom, Sonic's room, Tails' room, the door to the basement, and the laundry room, and an eastern hallway leading north that led to the kitchen, the second largest room in the house.

Sonic said with a smile, " Well, here we are, Metal! Our humble abode! Since you don't need to eat and have nothing else to do, I guess now's as good a time as any to call it a night... We, uh, don't have a recharging capsule or anything like that... " Metal Sonic replied, " That's of no issue... " and Sonic and Tails were astonished when he simply laid down on the couch and covered himself over with the blankets, and stated with a bored but tired expression, " I do not require a recharge capsule or anything of the sort; I recharge by going into sleep mode and regaining energy through oxygen intake. While I'm awake and thinking, I use up more energy than I gain, but it's different when I'm asleep. "

His head sank into a soft pillow on the couch, and he said in a bored but tired tone while lying on his side, " See you in the morning... " He " closed " his eyes, with his red eyes taking on a U shape and dimming considerably. Sonic and Tails couldn't help but stare in astonishment at the sight of Metal Sonic sleeping the same way everyone else did. He was lying on the couch on his side underneath some blankets with a pillow under his head, completely silent with a tired expression. It really helped to humanize him, even more than him acting awkward, showing humility and revealing a soft side ever did.

Sonic and Tails quietly went to the kitchen to make dinner, and once they were in it, Tails whispered nervously, " Promise me you'll lock your door tonight, okay? " Sonic looked at him sadly at seeing how little he trusted Metal Sonic even after everything that had happened that day. Tails whispered with a nervous smile, " I-I know there's not much of a chance he'll attack us in our sleep, but hey, better safe than sorry, right? You never know. " Sonic sighed unhappily. He understood that Tails was just being cautious, and he couldn't expect him to trust someone like Metal Sonic not to hurt him when it had only been a day. He whispered, " Alright, I'll humor you. But he's not gonna do that, Tails. You'll see, " and ruffled his hair with a small smile, getting Tails to smile nervously in response.

Just after Eggman had been imprisoned three days ago, he was placed in an empty safe-like cell with Metal Knuckles, Cubot and Orbot, and after a few hours of sitting on the floor in complete darkness, the door to the cell opened, letting in bright light that made Eggman shield his eyes. Two men with black suits and sunglasses with their hands behind their backs were standing at the entrance to the cell, and the one on the left stated, " Come with us. It is time for interrogation. " The one on the right added in annoyance, " That means _all_ of you, " making Cubot, Orbot and Metal Knuckles nervous.

The four of them reluctantly followed the men in the black suits down the bright white hallways of the base, with armed soldiers behind them to make sure they wouldn't run off, and after a minute of walking, they were made to go into separate rooms to encourage the giving out of information. Each of the rooms had white walls, a white ceiling and a white floor, and was mostly empty except for a dark blue desk with two chairs on either end of it, with a man in a black suit and sunglasses sitting on the chair furthest from the entrance to the room with multiple other SWORD agents surrounding him. Eggman, Metal Knuckles, Cubot and Orbot were all promised that any of the information they revealed to the agents would be kept confidential from the rest of them, so the three robots didn't have to worry about the information being used against them by it being revealed to Eggman what they said.

The purpose of the interrogation was for SWORD to gather intelligence to make use of their prisoners while they were developing the brainwashing serum. But it soon became clear to them that it wasn't working as well as they had hoped. Eggman lied to them no matter what, and they had no way of verifying whether what he told them was a lie or new information; they knew that polygraphs only detected nervousness and not necessarily lying, and even when they threatened him with torture to make him talk, he still lied to them anyways, despite how scared and intimidated he was. Any of the information he gave them that was actually true, was something that GUN and SWORD already found out by themselves.

Orbot and Cubot didn't have much useful information, either. The SWORD agents were expecting to get a massive amount of new information from them, but the only information they could give them was either stuff they already knew - like Eggman's past plans - or information that was completely irrelevant to them. Orbot told them about Eggman's tendency to have a short temper and throw tantrums - to the point of slapping him occasionally when Metal Sonic wasn't around - as well as his being finicky and eating a lot, and being a narcissistic delusional control freak, and complained about how stressful the job was. All he revealed was his lack of loyalty to Eggman, revealing how he had asked Sonic at one point if he could be his new sidekick if anything ever happened to Tails.

Cubot talked about how his and Orbot's jobs were to do household chores like cleaning the base while also being " runners " for Eggman doing any menial task he could think of, and explained that they had been recently taken with him on his biggest plans simply to keep him company. He mentioned that him, Orbot, Metal Sonic and Metal Knuckles were required to listen to Eggman tell them about his latest plans and inventions when he had breakfast every morning because he liked having someone to tell his plans about the instant he thought them up.

Metal Knuckles, much to the SWORD agents' surprise, was the exact opposite of Knuckles when it came to personality. When questioned about this, he explained, " Well, Eggman intentionally programmed me to be the way I am so that I wouldn't insult him or his plans. Even though I'm technically a combat robot, my only actual job is to be the one who listens to his plans without insulting them. That's it, and that means that I spend most of my time with like _nothing_ to _do._ Unlike Metal Sonic, I don't get sent on _action-packed missions_ or even get daily combat training. So I spend my free time doing stuff like doing odd jobs around the base, helping out with the household chores and socializing with the other robots! I spend most of my time hanging out with Orbot and Cubot, and they always keep me up to date on the latest gossip! Heh, well, Metal Sonic calls it gossip, anyway, but it's not like it's hurting anyone. I usually hang out with Orbot and Cubot, but whenever I get the chance, I'll check up on how my older brother's doing and give him some company. " He giggled, and relaxed, thinking to himself, " _Telling these agents stuff isn't so bad! They're just listening to me speak! They're not even threatening to hurt me! It's pretty nice talking to humans other than Dad who actually know who I am!_ "

The man sitting across from him looked confused, and asked, " Older brother? " Metal Knuckles explained cheerfully, " Oops! Silly me! I forgot you didn't know. I was talking about Metal Sonic! Yeah, I think of him as an _older_ _brother._ You see, the two of us are based off people who are around the same age, and we were both made by the same person, so we're like brothers, with him being the oldest because he was made first and he's the _mature_ and _responsible_ one. He's _very_ protective of me and the others, always warning us not to do anything dangerous and telling us to be careful. He tries to act all aloof like he doesn't really care, but you can tell when you're around him that he cares about us; like, he'll let us have casual conversations with him about our day and like mundane stuff, and he'll give us advice and listen to us, even when he's in a bad mood. Even when he's in a bad mood and he's trying to suppress the urge to complain about how his life is, he still listens to us talking about our day and trying to cheer him up! Sure, he tries to bottle up his emotions and act like he doesn't _care_ because he doesn't wanna look weak, but deep down, he's a softie. I can tell. I know him better than he knows himself. "

Acting like he was simply having a casual conversation with him to encourage him to keep talking, the man across the desk asked, " So what's he like, personality-wise? " Metal Knuckles put his hand on his chin and said, " Hmmm, how do I put this?... Well, from what I've heard, he's a lot like Shadow! Very serious, aloof, independent, and intelligent, being cautious and careful instead of reckless and optimistic. He tries to act like he doesn't care about us, but every so often he'll slip up and say something that makes it _blatantly_ _obvious_ and get all flustered and stammer, ' N-Not like _I_ _care_ or anything, ' or something like that, so I guess he's not as good at hiding his soft side as Shadow, at least not around us, anyway. He's also really intelligent, being more of an intellectual than Sonic is. Ever since Orbot suggested taking up reading as a hobby, he's been more interested in reading books than running fast, and it's not just because he's always cooped up in the base and can't go out for a run, either. He reads a lot of non-fiction, like history books and a bunch of encyclopedias, and he's really withdrawn and introverted a lot of the time; he doesn't come to _us_ to socialize, _we_ have to come to _him,_ because otherwise he'll spend all day in bed reading by himself. Not that I disapprove. In fact, I think it's _great_ that he's reading so much! It's _certainly_ a lot better than his _last_ hobby, where he was like completely _obsessed_ with surpassing Sonic in every aspect and just stressed himself out with his _perfectionism._ He's really really good at _analyzing_ _the world around him_ and figuring out stuff from what he sees, and he's extremely observant because of that! He's always overanalyzing everything to a _ridiculous_ extent, paying close attention to his surroundings to find anything that can hurt him and deal with it, always being eight steps ahead and like _crazy_ _prepared!_ Unlike Eggman, he always thinks things through, to the point where sometimes he'll spend such a long time thinking about what to do and going over the pros and cons of making certain decisions that when it's time to actually make them, he might not be finished thinking about it! He _is_ really good at making split-second decisions on a reflex when he's in like a dangerous situation or whatever, though, because the ' adrenaline ' from situations where he has to go fast make him start thinking with his senses all sped up and he has _lightning_ _fast_ reflexes! It's why he's so good in battle! Cubot told me that he's doing _really_ great in the daily combat training! That, and he uses fighting those robots as a way to relieve the stress that he spends all day _bottling_ _up,_ so he's pretty _angry_ and _vicious_ when he's fighting in there... Thankfully he'll never hurt _me_ that way, so I don't have much reason to worry. "

The man across the desk said, " Do you remember two and a half years ago when the Metal Overlord Incident occurred? Is that evil robot ever going to try anything like that again? _I'm_ surprised he's still being allowed to _work_ for Eggman after that. From what I've heard so far, he _hasn't_ been reprogrammed to _admire_ him, and he's only following his orders to avoid getting into trouble. You'd think Eggman would just reprogram or _scrap_ that evil robot to make sure nothing that will ever _happen_ again. "

Metal Knuckles sighed unhappily with his head hung low, and explained, " It's _not_ gonna happen again. I know that for a fact. In fact, if anything, he regrets the whole thing! He's really really _embarrassed_ about that _whole_ _incident_ and he doesn't really like to _talk_ about it, because it was at a time when he was going through a _lot_ of _stress_ and it was getting too much to handle and he wasn't _thinking_ _straight,_ so eventually it all got too much for him. But that's not gonna happen again now that he's gotten a less stressful hobby. Reading books is _great_ for alleviating boredom, and it's even _better_ for _escapism,_ which someone who is miserable with his life as a ' robot slave ' desperately needs. At least that's what he's _told_ _me,_ anyway; I can't really read books because whenever I try to read, all the letters seem to fly all over the place. I think it's called dyslexic or something. Anyhoo, I know this isn't really gonna change anything for him, but I'm gonna say it anyway; I don't agree with the idea that Metal Sonic is evil. I'll admit that he can be pretty vicious to his enemies, but he's not really _pure_ _evil_ like everyone _says._ Apathetic, jaded, cynical, negative, and sort of self-absorbed, but not _evil._ He's not sadistic or ambitious, so I can't really say that he qualifies. He's too apathetic and _jaded_ to really have the motivation to do heroic things like Sonic has, and he doesn't wanna show his soft side, and he tends to go to extremes when dealing with people he hates instead of showing mercy, but I don't think that makes him an ' evil robot ' like people say. He's more of a moody teenager than anything! He's really _disgruntled_ working for Eggman rather than enjoying it or approving of what he's doing, only doing what he says to avoid losing privileges, and he cares about us despite trying to act like he doesn't, so I wouldn't say he's evil. If anything, his apathy makes him neutral. Like I said, he's like Shadow! He's not pure evil and he's not pure good. He's more complicated than that. "

The man across the desk rolled his eyes at what he thought was Metal Knuckles being hopelessly idealistic, and due to the fact that he was wearing sunglasses, Metal Knuckles couldn't see him do it. Suddenly, they heard a female voice over the intercom say, " Interrogation time is over. " The door to the room opened, and the two agents and two soldiers were seen again. One of the agents stated in annoyance, " Alright, back to your cell! We'll get some _useful_ information _eventually._ " Looking like he felt sorry for them, Metal Knuckles asked, " Gosh, did you _really_ not learn _anything_ useful? " while walking up to the door. The man replied in annoyance, " All we've learned so far is lies and what we already know. " After that, Metal Knuckles was brought back to the cell along with Eggman, Cubot and Orbot, thinking, " _This wasn't as bad as I thought it would be._ "

When the cell door shut and they were once again in that dark empty room, everyone sighed unhappily at their situation, with the sole exception of Metal Knuckles. Remaining optimistic, he said with a bright smile, " Don't worry, everybody! We'll be fine! Metal Sonic's coming to save us all! He's probably gonna get all the Chaos Emeralds or something to ensure the mission's success! Sure, he wasn't told to do that, but his orders were really vague to begin with, he was mostly gonna have to figure out the plan on his own anyway. He cares about all of us too darn much to not do _whatever_ _it_ _takes_ to rescue us! He _is_ coming, guys. It's not a matter of _if,_ it's a matter of _when._ " This helped to cheer everyone up, as they all smiled from the encouragement.

Unfortunately, due to the room being bugged, the SWORD agents heard this, too, and quickly became very concerned about the robot they were going to have to deal with. A man with brown hair in a black suit said with panic in his voice, " Metal Sonic could be coming here with the Chaos Emeralds?! If he goes super with them, he'll be unstoppable! He'll destroy our base and our plan for saving the world will be ruined! "

A woman with blonde hair in a black suit said nervously, " Oh, I can't bear the thought of someone as evil as him abusing those sacred emeralds in such a way! " Victor said with determination in his voice, " That's why we have to find all seven emeralds before that evil robot does! In our hands, we'll be able to make sure they'll never be abused again! " Robert said in despair, " But we don't have an emerald locater. The only one in the world belongs to Tails, and it needs a Chaos Emerald to be placed in it in order to locate the others! If we had at least one of the emeralds, we could simply borrow the child's emerald locater in the name of justice, but we don't even have one... " He sighed.

The night Metal Sonic spent at Sonic's house wasn't exactly a pleasant one, not because of the fact that he was in Sonic's house, but because of the nightmare he was having.

In his dream, he woke up in Sonic's house in the morning, and heard Sonic's voice calling out to him cheerfully, " Hey, Metal! Come outside! There's something we wanna show you! " Still feeling tired but knowing he had no choice but to do what he said, Metal Sonic sighed wearily and sped outside at the speed of sound using his jet engine chest. When he left the house, he was met with a horrible sight.

A gigantic red metal wall with pinkish electricity coming out of it making a loud and continuous buzzing sound from the crackling of electricity. That was what he saw that caused him to gasp and immediately tense up with an expression full of dread and terror. Just being aware of its presence was too strong of a reminder, and he immediately starting having a flashback to the last time he had to deal with one of those things. Sonic and Tails were still staring at the wall, oblivious to how he was feeling, until Sonic cheerfully looked over at him while saying to him, " So what do you think? " Then, he saw him, and looked worried at seeing his expression. " Hey, what's wrong? "

Metal Sonic was aware of this, but he was unable to pay attention to it. All he was focused on was the electrified wall and the traumatic experience it was forcing him to remember and relive. With his senses and thoughts sped up to the speed of sound from feeling like he was in danger, he remembered in the span of seconds flying through the air after Sonic on the Death Egg Mk II boosting at Mach 4 to make sure he would win the race, only for Sonic to win anyways and an electrified wall coming down in front of him while he was completely unable to avoid crashing into it. He remembered how he had become frightened and panicked at what was going to happen and let out a bloodcurdling scream after he slammed into an electrified wall at 3,072 m/ph with a loud banging sound, feeling stinging excruciating pain from both the impact with the metal wall and the high voltage jolts of electricity piercing his body and rushing through every part of it forcing him to convulse and burning him from the inside. He remembered that he had been slammed against the wall being electrocuted for only three seconds, but it was still a horrible experience. Just hitting the metal wall alone had caused his metal body to become extremely cracked and dented with various holes in it from the damage, and he could see oil stains on the wall as he painfully fell to the metal floor on his back at last with a banging sound.

Still in pain, but not as much as before, he could see sparks of electricity escaping him from the wire damage of the high voltage along with his oil bleeding out of him like blood, which was slowly making him go from frightened and panicked to weak and faint as he went from hyperventilating from stress to taking very shallow erratic breaths, with his oil flowing out of him increasingly slowly as the closest approximation he had to a heart pumped more slowly with every passing second after being dangerously fast a few seconds before. It wasn't long before his vision had faded to black and become static as he passed out.

Even though that painful and nightmarish experience had only lasted a few minutes, he still remembered every single detail five years later, from the wide open space around him that made him feel like he was all alone and dangers were able to come at him from every corner, to the loneliness and abandonment he felt at the knowledge that Sonic wasn't going to help him and the fear that Eggman wouldn't either.

" Metal Sonic! Can you hear me?! Snap out of it! " Tails exclaimed at him in a nervous and worried tone, snapping him out of his flashback. He noticed that Metal Sonic was trembling uncontrollably with his red eyes shrunken to the size of tiny dots with a haunted expression on his face. Sonic and Tails looked at him worried as he started breathing rapidly and flew back into the house at the speed of sound in a panic attack. He rushed into the closet and sat on the floor of it after closing the door, trying to comfort himself by being in a tight confined space instead of a wide open area like in his flashback, and gasped at seeing the door open.

Sonic went up to him with a worried and sympathetic expression, and asked him softly, " Hey, what happened back there? " Noticing how frightened he was, Sonic cautiously put his hands on his metal shoulders and kneeled down to his eye level. Metal wasn't sure how he felt about that, but his eyes revealed the truth, becoming less shrunken and having sadness in them as he realized that this was the first and probably only time that Sonic was going to treat him with such compassion. He wanted that. He had wanted that for years. So even though it made him weak, right now he wanted nothing more than compassionate gestures from the one he always strived for the approval of.

After a silence where Metal Sonic continued trembling, Sonic said with a worried and guilty tone, " I'm sorry that we didn't warn you. Tails had made that as a protective fence for the Tornado-1! We didn't know you would react to it like _this!_ It reminded you of when you were, electrocuted, didn't it? " Metal Sonic flinched at hearing the word ' electrocuted, ' and Sonic apologized to him, " Sorry... I didn't know it had _affected_ _you_ that much, " with his eyes full of pity.

Feeling completely ashamed of himself for looking so weak and vulnerable in front of what was supposed to be his worst enemy, he impulsively put his arms around him in a hug, with his head over his shoulder to hide his face and trying not to cry, and to his relief, Sonic immediately hugged back in confusion and concern, instead of thinking he was in danger like he could've. Whispering to try and hide the cracking of his voice, he said with nothing but contempt for himself, " I'm pathetic... I'm weak, and fragile, and pathetic... "

" No you're _not,_ Metal. _Anyone_ would be shaken after surviving what you did. I _heard_ the scream, and I gotta be honest with you here, I felt sorry for you. You're _not_ pathetic. If I survived something like that, I'd be the same way, " Sonic said in a comforting tone, clearly feeling guilty for scaring him so much. Metal Sonic was still ashamed of looking so weak and vulnerable in front of him, trembling in Sonic's arms, but something about being held close to him in a warm embrace while being comforted and shown compassion was calming him down and relaxing him. He had never expected Sonic to actually have felt sorry for him back in the Death Egg Mk II; he had always assumed Sonic had smirked and felt satisfied at his horrible pain and misery, simply because he was one of Eggman's robots. He supposed he should've known someone as compassionate as Sonic wouldn't have been that sadistic; it was just his pessimism, cynicism and envious hatred of Sonic causing him to think the worst of him, even when it was illogical. As he was held close by him, he gradually went from being miserable to smiling in content. He had never experienced anything like this before, except in his dreams...

And that was when it hit him. It was a dream. It had to be a dream. And just like that, his vision faded to black and the dream ended as quickly as it had begun.

When he woke up on the couch of Sonic's house, it took him a few seconds to adjust to the fact that he wasn't waking up from his bed as usual. It was morning, as he could tell by his internal clock and the window outside. It was 7:00 AM, which shocked him. For the first time in months, he had woken up at a point in time later than four in the morning. He sighed wearily, once again waking up from a dream about Sonic comforting him feeling confused and conflicted at liking it so much. It wasn't the first time he had a dream where Sonic showed him compassion or had a heart-to-heart conversation with him, and he knew it wouldn't be the last. Torn between being ashamed of himself and appreciating the dream, his thoughts were interrupted when he heard a doorbell ring, which sent him into a state of alarm. Anyone ringing the doorbell of Sonic's house would freak at finding out Metal Sonic was there, especially with the high probability that it was one of Sonic's friends who had done so.

Knowing Sonic would get the door, he sped into the basement at the speed of sound to hide and closed the door. He imagined a Volume icon appear in his mind's eye and being clicked, and when he saw Volume Up, Mute and Volume Down icons appearing along with a green number showing the volume, he visualized the Volume Up icon being clicked multiple times. By doing this, he mentally turned up the sensitivity of his auditory sensors to make sure he could listen in clearly as he heard Sonic walk out of his room to greet the person at the door. He knew eavesdropping was considered rude, but he was curious, he wondered if the person was a threat, and he figured that since he was temporarily part of Sonic's team, he had every right to find out what was going on with his teammates.

Sonic opened the door and groaned, complaining, " Amy! You woke me up! I was having such a good dream, too! " Amy giggled and said flirtatiously, " A good dream, huh? Was it about me? " and started giggling again. Sonic sighed in annoyance and deadpanned, " No, Amy, it _wasn't._ Why are you _here?_ I don't have _time_ for this right now. In case you haven't noticed, I'm gonna be busy today. "

Ignoring how Sonic was treating her in order to continue smiling, Amy said happily while trying to stay optimistic, " For a date, silly! I had a dream that we were on one! Dreams mean something, you know! So I thought, what better way to make sure the dream comes true? Besides, you shouldn't be surprised. Fated lovers are _always_ drawn together! " and giggled while Sonic groaned and rolled his eyes, shaking his head at her. " Fine! I'll go on a date with you today. Just, uh, go to that pizza place in Station Square this lunch, and wait there, and I'll _definitely_ show up this time! "

Speaking in the same flirtatious tone to hide how annoyed she was, Amy asked suspiciously with a smile, " And you're not gonna stand me up like every other time? " Sonic said with a fake smile, " No, of course not, see you later! " and pushed her out of the door before shutting it and locking it, and sighing with relief.

Upon hearing the full extent of the conversation, Metal Sonic returned the volume of his auditory sensors to their original setting by visualizing the Volume Down and Back icons being clicked, feeling annoyed with Sonic for the way he treated Amy, not appreciating the love and affection that robots like him were universally deprived of. Right now, Sonic was coming off as a hypocrite. He wasn't acting noble at all. This was the first time since he made that alliance with him that he heard Sonic say anything to someone in such a disrespectful tone, and it reminded him of why he had hated him. " _But I suppose if I had to deal with a stalker with a crush, I would act the same way. I wouldn't want to bother with a relationship, either,_ " he thought with his arms crossed, reluctantly admitting to himself that Sonic wasn't a jerk just because he wasn't friendly to people who annoyed him. As Sonic went into the kitchen and Metal returned to the living room couch, he wondered if it was his dream or all the time he spent with Sonic that was causing him to cut Sonic some slack, and if doing so would make the mission more tolerable.

It wasn't long before Tails walked out of his bedroom and into the kitchen with a nervous but confused expression, and whispered in confusion as Sonic was making bagels for the two of them, " He didn't try to come in... " Sonic smiled and ruffled his hair before placing plates with bagels on them on the kitchen table, saying quietly, " I told you he could be trusted. " Tails still looked wary as Metal Sonic reluctantly walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table with a bored expression, but he wasn't as afraid of him as before. Nervously smiling at him, he was becoming increasingly open to the possibility that if Metal Sonic hadn't taken the opportunity to hurt or kill him while he was asleep, he might never do it, during the adventure at least; he kept himself aware of the idea that Metal Sonic was probably only keeping the two of them alive because he felt he needed them to complete his mission.

Sonic said with a friendly smile, " Hey, Metal! Did you have a good sleep? " Answering right away to avoid suspicion of otherwise, Metal replied with his arms crossed, " I'm at 100% again, so yes, I'm well-rested. The couch was a lot more comfortable than I thought... " He wondered if he was lying to them; technically, he did get the sleep he needed, which might qualify his sleep as good, but his sleep was also plagued with nightmares like they usually were, which he didn't want to tell them. Still, he didn't have nearly as horrifying nightmares as he usually did; if anything, he had the closest he's gotten to a pleasant dream in months. So he supposed that, for him at least, he did have a good sleep, even if it involved flashbacks about his worst experience.

" That's good to hear! We're pretty well-rested ourselves! Looks like we'll all be _super_ _prepared_ for the busy day ahead of us! " Sonic said cheerfully as him and Tails had their breakfast. Metal Sonic questioned, " So have you decided on our next destination? " remembering that Sonic wanted to put Ice Mountain Zone last.

Sonic nodded and answered with a carefree tone, " We'll go to Dragon Road in Chun-Nan, and after that we'll be going to the capital of Shamar! That way, we'll get all of the areas outside of the country out of the way at once! Pretty convenient, huh? " Metal nodded and admitted, " It does sound rather efficient. "

Tails added with a nervous smile, " I-It's a good thing the Tornado-1 is so fast that we'll be able to get the next two emeralds without the day ending, heh heh... " gaining the courage to speak to him and wanting to prove he wasn't as afraid as he was last night. Sonic smiled at him for that as Metal replied nonchalantly, " Well, considering the amount of upgrades you've given to planes over the years, it's only logical that the Tornado-1 can fly at such high speeds. You've certainly got a _lot_ more experience with planes than the idiot I have to work for... " with his arms crossed to act aloof as if he wasn't trying to flatter him, merely stating an objective fact. The compliments didn't go unnoticed by Tails, though, who quickly realized that Metal Sonic had said he was an expert at improving planes and possibly implied he was a better mechanic than Eggman, and tried not to blush as he smiled nervously and said, " Thanks, " while scratching the back of his neck.

" I-I doubt I'm a better mechanic than _Eggman,_ though. He's a _lot_ _older_ than me and he's got a _lot_ more experience, and _he's_ a genius, _too,_ after all... " Tails replied with a bashful smile, not being confident enough to take the compliment as true. Metal shrugged and replied nonchalantly without even looking at him, " Take it from me, kid, the man's an idiot. He's got less common sense than a three-year-old on a sugar rush. Meanwhile, you're obviously a lot more level-headed than he is and a lot more grounded in reality, which makes you _far_ more likely to make intelligent decisions. Although you two have different areas of expertise - with him it's robots and with you it's planes - so I suppose it's not as easy as it looks to compare you two as engineers. I can't imagine you _not_ being skilled at making robots, though. And he's not exactly good at programming his robots, himself, considering how many of them I've met that no longer admire him like they were programmed to. It can't be hard to top that. "

Still smiling bashfully, Tails said, " W-Well, thanks... " appreciating the compliment; coming from a robot built by Eggman, being called potentially better at making robots than Eggman meant a lot. He would've been suspicious of the compliments if it weren't for the fact that Metal Sonic was so nonchalant and matter-of-fact about them, stating them as if they were objective facts that anyone could figure out on their own, acting aloof with his arms crossed as he said them as if it was no big deal. He clearly wasn't trying to flatter him, and it probably didn't even cross his mind that he was doing that, so he wasn't saying that with ulterior motives like trying to trick him into trusting him more. And someone like Metal Sonic wouldn't compliment someone unless he had a lot of respect for the aspect of them he was complimenting, so again, it meant a lot coming from him. After hearing that, Tails found himself starting to wonder if he had been too untrusting of him.

Sonic smiled at the sight. Metal Sonic was actually complimenting Tails, even if he was trying to act like it was no big deal and he was just stating a fact. Everyone had always assumed he thought of Tails as pathetic for not being as good a fighter as Sonic, but it was clear at the moment that he respected Tails for his intelligence, even if he was trying to act all aloof about it. He had passed so many of the secret tests of character he had given him during the adventure. He hadn't snapped at Tails when he was being nosy about why he was so good at Green Hill Zone, he hadn't attacked him when he briefly left him alone with him to get chili dogs, he hadn't done anything evil when he was sent to get an emerald in Marble Garden Zone unsupervised, and he hadn't done anything evil like attack them in their sleep when he stayed over at their house for the night. He had done so much to keep his word and prove he could be trusted. This, along with the way he was showing respect for Tails so nonchalantly, was what convinced Sonic to give him another test.

Sonic smiled in a manner that made it clear he had come up with an idea, and said, " I'm glad you two are getting along! Because when we're looking for the next Chaos Emerald in Dragon Road, you two are gonna look for it together! I'll run around the area at the speed of sound alone while you two work together to find the emeralds in a different part of the area! It'll be a great opportunity for you two to work as a team! "

Tails was shocked and nervous at hearing that. While he did trust Metal Sonic more than yesterday, he still wasn't sure if being alone with him for that long was a good idea. After all, the last time he was alone with him may not have ended badly, but it was in a situation where Metal knew Sonic would be coming back any minute; he might take advantage of the opportunity to mistreat him now that Sonic wouldn't be running in without warning. He saw Metal Sonic shrug his shoulders and say nonchalantly, " Sounds fine to me. I could fly at the same speed as him for the sake of the mission; after all, I can't have him getting harmed because I wasn't right there to protect him. "

Tails seemed conflicted at hearing Metal Sonic once again say that he felt it was his responsibility to protect him from harm. He might have only been saying that because he needed him for the mission, but it was still rather heartwarming that he wanted to protect someone he thought of as weak instead of dismissing him as useless or attacking him to prove himself superior. He thought back to the last time he was alone with him. Aside from the awkward silence and them barely talking to each other, it wasn't really that bad. If Metal Sonic was really serious about keeping him safe for the sake of the mission, then searching for an emerald while alone with him wouldn't be dangerous to him at all.

It wouldn't be as fun as searching with just Sonic, since Metal would be a lot more focused on searching for the emerald and too aloof and serious to open up to him or engage in friendly banter, but at least it wouldn't be dangerous. If anything, it would be more like searching for an emerald with Shadow than with an evil robot who could try to kill him, and while neither option sounded fun to him, he preferred the former over the latter; the more time he spent around Metal Sonic, the more he found himself comparing him to Shadow, someone who, while aloof and cynical, wasn't evil or vicious to him. And Sonic was clearly not going to change his mind about this, risky as it may have been, and Tails didn't want to look like a bad friend by acting like he didn't trust his judgment. Sonic had been proven right about trusting Metal Sonic again and again and again that adventure; at this rate, he probably wouldn't be wrong again. So, after a second or two of being conflicted, Tails said with a nervous smile to humor Sonic,

" Okay, Sonic, I'll do it. He's proven he can be trusted over and over again and you haven't been wrong yet. A-And if he really _is_ gonna _protect_ me, I'll be safe from any danger! It could be fun! Heh heh... " Metal Sonic rolled his eyes at being talked about like he wasn't there and Tails still being very reluctant to believe he wasn't a psychopathic monster who would hurt him for no reason, and was soon thankful that neither Sonic or Tails had seen his annoyed reaction. They had finished their breakfasts, and were now pushing in their chairs and putting their plates in the sink to be washed later. Sonic was eager to search for the other two emeralds and prove to Tails that Metal wouldn't hurt him during the mission, while Tails was dreading it, both because of his paranoid worries and because Metal Sonic's seriousness meant he wasn't going to be making searching for the emeralds entertaining.

It was a long plane ride to Chun-Nan, and like the plane ride to Holoska, it had taken around an hour, during which Sonic engaged in friendly banter with Tails while Metal Sonic sat in the back seat tightly buckled up and stared at the scenery below and to the left of him with his hand on his chin in boredom, with Sonic being the only reason there wasn't an awkward silence that made him feel like he didn't belong. Metal sort of appreciated seeing the scenery below him as the plane flew through the air, but he couldn't help but be bored as the plane flew over the ocean between the western and eastern hemispheres and he had nothing but the occasional island to look at. He only had his thoughts, which meant his worries and concerns, to entertain himself. It was due to this that he was relieved when the plane finally landed in the wilderness near the capital of Chun-Nan, with Sonic jumping off the wing of the plane and landing perfectly on the grassy ground below with a practiced grace. Sonic was optimistic about him and Tails searching for the emerald together without him, while Tails was worried and looking forward to it being over. Tails was so worried, in fact, that he secretly took along with him a small EMP ray gun and hid it in his shoe, just in case Metal Sonic would attack him.

Sonic said, " Alright, now, Dragon Road is north of here, and lucky for me, we're near the closest route to it. Unfortunately, the quickest way for me to get there is to go through a town, and obviously Metal can't do that because of his reputation. So you two will have to go a different route around the town instead of in it. Luckily, the town is surrounded by trees, so it won't be too hard to not get spotted near it. "

Tails and Metal Sonic looked around at the area surrounding them where they would have to go through. It was a very mountainous area with rivers flowing through grassy fields that had small bridges built across them. Tails said with a nervous smile, " Alright, so you'll go to Dragon Road the quick way and we'll take the scenic route. Got it. " Sonic said cheerfully, " That's right, little bro! After that, it's just Arid Sands and Ice Mountain Zone to go! Now, when we actually get to Dragon Road, you two will take the more mountainous route through it, since your ability to fly will let you go through it more easily. We'll all meet back here when the search is over! "

With that, he sped off in a blue blur, running at the speed of sound towards the nearby town in the distance. Metal Sonic soon flew after him in the same general direction, being sure to do so at Tails' speed so that he could keep up better, and it was only a few minutes before the two groups separated as Sonic went into the town while Tails and Metal Sonic went into the forest around it. The two of them sped through the forest without talking to each other, with Tails being too nervous to say anything and Metal Sonic being completely focused on getting to Dragon Road. It wasn't long before everyone had reached Dragon Road at last. When they did, Tails and Metal Sonic could see that they were in an area of higher elevation than Sonic, who was running through the grassy field below them as they looked down on him from a more mountainous part of the area.

Tails tried to hide how nervous he was at actually having to look for a Chaos Emerald while alone with Metal Sonic. He thought, " _He's tried for the entire adventure to make me let my guard down around him. He's been trying to get me to trust him not to hurt me, and I can just tell he's not gonna stop just because I'm looking for an emerald with him. He's gonna try to lure me into a false sense of security and tell me that I'm safe, and then bam! He'll attack me! I can feel it coming!_ "

" Now remember, Tails, this place isn't completely safe simply because you can see for miles in every direction. A wide open space means there could be dangers coming at you from _any_ direction! You have to be aware of your surroundings. You can't let down your guard! Stay alert, and remain ever vigilant. We have an emerald to search for, so I can't focus _all_ of my attention on protecting you, " Metal Sonic told him with a serious expression, which completely threw Tails for a loop. He was expecting him to either mistreat him or act suspiciously warm and friendly to him to lure him into a false sense of security and get him to trust him, so him acting just as serious, paranoid and cautious as back home was more surprising than it should have been. Tails was so surprised and confused that he was unable to speak, so there were a few seconds of silence that Metal Sonic took note of before continuing, " Follow me, " and flying off at the speed of sound, snapping Tails out of it and forcing him to run after him to keep up.

While Sonic would entertain Tails and make him feel more at ease with friendly banter and joking around, Metal Sonic was completely focused on the mission, not speaking to him because of how serious he was about the task at hand. He was focused entirely on moving quickly through the mountainous area and keeping track of which parts of it he had been through in his memory in order to not go there multiple times, with keeping an eye out for a Chaos Emerald as his top priority. The fact that he couldn't think of anything to say to Tails was another reason for his silence, as he didn't want to say anything that would intimidate him or annoy him, but he also didn't want to open up to him and reveal his soft side; it was embarrassing enough for him that answering one question from the curious little fox had caused him to tell him and Sonic his life story. He already knew too much. He wished that the child wasn't so irrationally afraid of him, but he couldn't make himself say anything that would comfort him, not only because he refused to reveal his soft side, but also because he couldn't think of anything to say and he was certain Tails wouldn't believe a word he said, only getting suspicious that he was luring him into a false sense of security.

Tails, on the other hand, was silent because he was nervous around Metal Sonic and didn't want to annoy him by talking to him when he was so focused on the mission, and he couldn't think of anything to say anyways. The last time he tried to talk with him alone, they ended up barely exchanging three sentences together. Metal Sonic was not appreciative of small talk, nor was he appreciative of being asked questions about himself and expected to open up to someone who was usually his enemy. Tails knew that if he said anything to him at all, it would be questions about him that Metal Sonic would show the same amount of reluctance to answering; he didn't even want to tell him the truth about where he got his books from, let alone anything important. He supposed that he would relax around him if Metal told him more about himself and his life, but he couldn't work up the courage to ask him the questions that would make that happen, and he didn't want to distract him and annoy him.

So the two stayed silent as they sped through the mountainous area of Dragon Road. What they were unaware of while they were searching for the emerald, was two robotic hummingbirds following them, flying just above the mountainous terrain behind them, with each viewing them from a different angle, recording every sight and sound.

As Metal Sonic flew over the mountainous terrain at slightly less than the speed of sound, he was highly focused on everything his senses were taking in, paying close attention to his optical, tactile, auditory, and even olfactory sensors to be as aware of his surroundings as possible. He stared at the area ahead of him intently to look for an emerald and any potential threats to his or Tails' safety, and listened intently for any dangerous animals that could be lurking about outside of his field of vision. Unlike Sonic during an adventure, Metal Sonic was completely alert and cautious, being entirely fixated on carrying out the task he was sent out to do and overanalyzing everything around him.

It was because of this that he soon picked up on the sound of the wings of tiny birds flapping rapidly behind and above him. He analyzed the sound and determined it to be the sound of a hummingbird's wings, and noticed that said hummingbird must have been following him at a safe distance, not once flying in any direction other than the one he was going. Anyone else would have noticed this and then immediately paid attention to something else, but someone as paranoid of potential threats as Metal Sonic quickly became suspicious, wondering why hummingbirds would be following his every movement. After all, hummingbirds were native to the Americas, and would never be found in Chun-Nan, and surely they should be more focused on flying around looking for food, rather than flying north and not deviating from that direction. He knew that birds flew south for the winter, and any hummingbirds flying north back from the Southern Hemisphere would be flying over the Americas and not Chun-Nan. And he knew that Chun-Nan was not in the season where those birds would be flying north towards a warm place, since it was already in early summer.

The data he took in from his auditory sensors allowed him to determine that the hummingbirds' wing flapping rate was 50 times per second, and that the birds measured in the 5 cm range, apparently being bee hummingbirds weighing less than a penny. Metal Sonic soon realized that the birds were keeping up with him just fine when he should've left them in the dust from his speed. This meant that those ' birds ' had to have been flying at an unusually fast speed to be able to keep up with someone flying at the blistering speed of 520 m/ph, the same speed that Tails was flying at by spinning his tails around like a propeller. How could any hummingbird travel at 520 miles per hour, let alone do so consistently for a long period of time while following directly behind him?

Based on all of the data he was taking in, Metal Sonic became increasingly suspicious that the so-called ' hummingbirds ' that were flying behind him, were actually fake hummingbirds sent to spy on him, presumably for SWORD, who was his main adversary at the moment, and would have logically found out he was going to storm their base and sent spies after him. But he couldn't just tell Tails what he was suspicious of; those hummingbirds must have been able to record sound effectively from quite a distance away, so they would hear him warning Tails and take action accordingly. So in order to confirm his suspicions, Metal Sonic suddenly changed his flying direction to northeast - causing Tails to follow him in confusion - and his auditory sensors picked up that the so-called hummingbirds were still directly behind and above him. Getting even more suspicious, he gradually changed his flying direction to east, and then southeast, south, southwest, west, northwest, and finally north again, going in a large circle, and his ears heard that the so-called hummingbirds were still following directly behind him despite the way he was moving. Confused, Tails asked, " Uh, what's going on? " wondering if he was malfunctioning from the way he was moving in a circle.

He gasped when suddenly, Metal Sonic jumped upwards, whipped directly around and flew up in the sky at what Tails saw as a hummingbird flying towards him, and turned on his boost to surround himself with fire as he tore it apart with his burning claws viciously, before returning to the ground just as quickly as he had left it. Tails went from being horrified to confused and bewildered at seeing that the supposed ' hummingbird ' was in fact made of metal, with an organic skin covered in feathers to hide it. Metal pieces were all that were left of the bird after Metal Sonic had destroyed it, with feathers stuck to the exterior of a couple of the metal pieces that made it all the more obvious that this was no ordinary bird.

Worried, Tails thought, " _What?! A robotic hummingbird that was perfectly disguised as a real one?! Where did that come from, and why was it following us? And how did Metal Sonic figure out that it wasn't real and destroy it?... Maybe he didn't know it wasn't real and just felt like killing a bird for the fun of it. I knew he wasn't trustw-_ "

His thoughts were interrupted when Metal Sonic stated in a quiet but serious tone, " I knew it. We're being spied on. " The robot could still detect the sound of a robotic hummingbird flapping its wings in the sky, and noticed that it seemed to be flying away from him. This made him believe that it was flying away from him in a retreat, rather than going to a safer distance to view him from another angle.

Tails exclaimed nervously, " Huh?! How did you figure it out?! " Metal Sonic explained with a serious tone, " My auditory sensors picked up on the sound of the flapping of a hummingbird's wings following directly behind me. Clearly it couldn't have been an ordinary hummingbird, because despite me going at the speed of 520 m/ph, it had _no_ trouble keeping up with me, and when I changed direction to confirm my suspicions, it _continued_ to follow directly behind me, which _proved_ that we were being followed. No _ordinary_ _hummingbird_ would even _exist_ in Chun-Nan, let alone follow me at a speed that could keep up with me! All of the data is indicating that this was a robotic hummingbird sent by SWORD to spy on us! After all, in all his years of building robots that looked like animals, my idiot boss has _never_ built one that looked just like the real thing. This _must_ have been the work of SWORD! They must have detected your plane flying towards their base, found out I was with you, figured out we were searching for the Chaos Emeralds, and sent spies after us! They might have even placed a tracking device on the plane in order to ascertain where we were when it landed! If they sent these robots down here after we landed, there must be far more dangerous robots in the vicinity! Stay alert and don't let down your guard! It is just as I predicted, Tails; it's dangerous here. "

As Tails stared at Metal Sonic with his eyes as big as marbles from his amazement and awe at how good he was at analyzing and processing information to the point of figuring out that much from the sound of a bird's wings alone, the second robotic hummingbird activated a special function that neither of them had anticipated.

Metal Sonic suddenly went into an offensive stance facing him, and looked panicked and confused as he felt like his body was being pulled and jerked by someone invisible as he was forced against his will to move into an offensive position. " What?! No! LET ME GO! " Metal Sonic exclaimed in panic. This, along with the fact that his dimly lit eyes weren't glowing menacingly like he actually wanted to hurt him, clued Tails into the fact that he was only being controlled. Scared, Tails gasped, wondering how SWORD was remote controlling him and hoping he wouldn't be killed as a result.

Metal Sonic resisted with all of his willpower the commands of the robotic hummingbird hacking into him, interfering with the SWORD agents' plans by exerting all of his strength doing the exact opposite of what they wanted him to do, like jerking back his arm when SWORD attempted to make him swing it at Tails. He groaned from the exertion, using all of his strength to remain standing in one place and keep his arms at his side, and angrily demanded, " STOP CONTROLLING ME! No! I will not obey! I REFUSE TO OBEY! " Tails gasped, and as Metal Sonic forced himself to his knees with his hands on his head rather than let himself be made to hurt him, the child exclaimed, " Let him go! " to whoever could have been listening.

Deciding that he might as well talk because his cover was blown, one of the SWORD agents demanded through a loudspeaker in the robotic hummingbird behind a hill nearby, " Stop defying our orders! Resistance is futile! Tails is a threat to our plans! He is trying to get the evil Dr. Eggman out of our base so he can continue wrecking havoc on the world! Destroy him! Anyone trying to rescue Eggman is our enemy! He is standing in the way of justice! For truth, and justice! We won't let anyone stand in its way! For heroism, and righteousness! We are always right! " Metal Sonic angrily said, " And I thought GUN was self-righteous! No! I won't let you make me hurt him! SWORD! I know what you did! MY FAMILY! RELEASE THEM! "

Tails was shocked at hearing that from him. He thought, " _Metal Sonic has a family?... Wait a minute! SWORD kidnapped Eggman, Metal Knuckles, Cubot and Orbot! Does he think of them as his family?! Does he really care about them that much?! I can't believe it! All this time I thought he was just an evil murderous robot who didn't care about anyone but himself! I was wrong! And now someone's trying to make him hurt me, and he's doing everything in his power to resist! I've got to do something!_ " Feeling guilty about being so untrusting of him, Tails realized that Metal Sonic was truly genuine about not wanting to hurt him, refusing to do so even when he had a good excuse.

Metal Sonic looked at the ground as he sat there kneeled down to it, with his optical sensors taking in nothing except the ground below him. It wasn't long before the voice over the loudspeaker coming from behind a tree demanded, " Stop looking at the ground! " And that was when it hit him. The SWORD agent wouldn't have specifically told him to stop looking at the ground, as opposed to telling him to hurt Tails again, if him doing so wasn't a direct impediment to them. He analyzed and processed that data, and soon concluded that through hacking into him, the SWORD agent could only see what he was seeing and hear what he was hearing in the area where he was, implying that the robotic hummingbird he hadn't destroyed yet had its camera and microphone functions turned off and switched over so that they could see and hear what he did instead of the bird. He knew that if Tails destroyed the robotic hummingbird that the controlling signal was coming from, he would break the connection between him and SWORD, but he couldn't let him know about the bird without warning SWORD to move the bird out of danger; at least not without being subtle. Hoping Tails would understand what he meant, he forced his head and body to jerk to the side as if to indicate to Tails what direction to look - which thankfully caused the child to see the robotic hummingbird as a result - and shouted, " Tails! EMP! EMP! " knowing that the SWORD agent would assume he meant shooting at himself and not the bird. Tails knew better.

He immediately shot the robotic hummingbird with waves of energy from his small blue EMP ray gun, destroying it and causing it to explode into hundreds of metal pieces. After he did this, the connection was broken, and he felt proud of himself for being responsible for that. It didn't take long for him to realize that Metal Sonic had known about his EMP ray gun all along, and feel guilty about making him feel so untrusted.

Relieved at no longer having to exert all of his strength and willpower trying to resist being controlled, Metal Sonic sighed in relief, and whispered, " Thanks... " while taking a minute to catch his breath, panting in exhaustion to regain some of the energy he had lost trying to resist SWORD's control. Tails walked up to him, and smiled warmly as he said, " You're welcome... And _thank you,_ for resisting with all of your strength and refusing to hurt me. I'm sorry, Metal Sonic. Maybe I misjudged you. I should have known all along that you wouldn't hurt me. " Metal Sonic nodded and admitted, " I have no reason to, kiddo. If anyone tried to make me, I'd find a way out of it. " This conveyed to Tails the message that even if Eggman told him to hurt him, he'd still try to find a way out of it, and he smiled even more as a result.

Feeling guilty as Metal Sonic slowly stood up and stopped panting, Tails asked nervously, " So, um, how did you know I had an EMP gun with me? " Metal Sonic replied nonchalantly, " Well, I just assumed you had it on you. You clearly didn't trust me not to hurt you, so it was only logical that you'd bring a weapon with you just in case. " Tails sighed sadly and asked with his head hung down in shame, " Are you mad at me? "

Metal Sonic reluctantly admitted, " No. I understand why you brought it with you, and I knew I had nothing to worry about, because you would've _never_ had to use it against me in the first place... " A part of him was annoyed with himself for letting his soft side show again, but he couldn't help but try to comfort the child, who was feeling incredibly guilty about not trusting him not to hurt him for so long. He thought in annoyance with himself, " _What is it about this child that keeps making it so difficult for me not to look like I've gone soft? It must be his youthful innocence making me let my guard down. Well, at least I can take solace in the knowledge that he'll never tell anyone other than Sonic about this. After all, who would ever believe him?_ "

Tails smiled, and said with his hands behind his back, " Thanks... So, um, don't you wanna know how I fit an EMP ray gun in my shoe? " Metal Sonic found himself smiling at how cute the kid was being and said with amusement with his arms crossed, " Heh, I guess so. How? " Tails said with an insecure smile while humbly scratching the back of his neck, " Well, I sorta did some tinkering on my shoes so that they'd have a little pocket dimension hidden behind the bottom soles that I could peel away at. So if something's small enough to fit through the sole of my shoe, I can store it in the pocket dimension for later. It's bigger on the inside than it looks on the outside, so I can store a lot of stuff in there, but only if the object in question is small enough to be put in there in the first place. It's really limited, I know, but I guess I can't expect too much of myself. "

" What, are you kidding?! That's _great!_ It's a _lot_ more impressive than anything the _idiot's_ done! And it takes a _lot_ to impress someone like me; I'm so _jaded_ these days that almost _nothing_ surprises me anymore. So what if it's not as good as it _could_ be? If you made a larger entrance to one of those pocket dimensions, you wouldn't _have_ to worry about putting only _small_ objects in them. Keep working on it, kiddo. You're getting better at it than the idiot every day. And take it from me, he's _not_ getting any better, " Metal Sonic said with an impressed smile, with his arms crossed and one of his black eyes narrowed as if he was cocking an eyebrow to make himself look less like he had gone soft. He knew that expressing admiration of Tails' engineering skills would mean a lot to the child and do a lot to reveal his soft side, but he was so impressed by the kid's invention that he couldn't help it. He wanted to encourage him to keep making magnificent inventions like that, even if it made him look weak.

Tails smiled nervously and blushed a little from getting such a heartfelt compliment about his engineering skills - and from Metal Sonic at that - and said, " T-Thanks... " He still couldn't take a compliment very well, due to being humble and insecure rather than arrogant like Eggman. It meant a lot to him hearing Metal Sonic, an invention of Eggman's no less, telling him that he was better at making inventions than Eggman was. He was too insecure to really believe it, but it felt good hearing it anyway, and being shown that kind of admiration from someone normally so aloof and serious was heartwarming.

After a few seconds, Metal Sonic said with the same amused smile, " Alright, so, now that the robotic hummingbirds sent to _spy_ _on_ _us_ have been dealt with, I say we continue going through Dragon Road and complete the mission as fast as possible. SWORD has probably sent more dangerous robots here, and it would be pretty fun if we went and _smashed_ them all on the way! " He was finding it difficult not to talk like Sonic in his rare good mood. He spoke just like Sonic when he was first built, but gradually developed his own method of speaking as his personality diverged from him, and while he usually tried to speak in his own way to set himself apart from Sonic as someone serious and non-emotional, he found it hard not to revert back to talking informally like Sonic did on the rare occasion that he was actually in a good mood. Upon noticing how he was talking, he felt embarrassed and continued, speaking in a serious tone the way he normally did to overcompensate to Tails' amusement,

" Uh, I mean, we _have_ to complete our _assigned_ _objective_ as _quickly_ as within our means, and be _extremely_ _aware_ of our surroundings in order to find any threats and neutralize them. We _have_ to stay _alert,_ and remain ever vigilant, because you can _never_ be too careful. According to my calculations, the probability that SWORD has sent a large quantity of combat robots to fight us at an Eggman rate is approximately 92%, as is the likelihood that they used their spying hummingbirds to hear what Sonic said at the plane and thus find out about our next destinations and sent robots there in advance. I suggest we search through the rest of the area and then return to the Tornado-1 to remove the tracking device that must have been placed on the bottom of the plane. " With that, he started flying at 520 m/ph away from Tails, causing him to run after him with a giggle and say jokingly, " Hey, not fair! I wasn't ready yet! "

The two of them started speeding through the rest of Dragon Road as fast as they could, keeping an eye out for any Chaos Emerald, finally being alone with each other without an awkward silence to deal with; this time, the silence wasn't so troubling, as while they were both very focused on looking for the emerald, they felt comfortable with each other while doing so.

It wasn't long before Tails and Metal Sonic had finished searching Dragon Road for the emerald. While they were heading through the forest just outside of town on their way back to the plane, they heard the sound of screams coming from the town, and Tails stopped with a panicked expression. " The town's being attacked by robots! " he exclaimed with fear and concern, not wanting any civilians to get hurt. Still being focused on getting back to the plane, Metal Sonic said apathetically, " Then Sonic will save- " only for Tails to start running towards the town to save it before he could finish his sentence.

" Hey, stop! You'll get hurt! " he exclaimed as Tails jumped over the bushes and into the town to fight robots alone. It was at this point when Metal Sonic panicked. He knew he couldn't go into the town because of his reputation, but he couldn't let anything happen to Tails and compromise the mission. Deciding that protecting Tails was of higher priority than not being seen in public, he groaned and said quietly, " Damn it, Tails! " with a worried tone and impulsively flew into the town at the speed of sound to go after the child.

The town, which was a grassy place that had rivers flowing through it and Chinese architecture, had a large amount of robots attacking it, with civilians running and hiding from them. The robots in question looked like they belonged to Eggman, but since he was imprisoned, it didn't take long for Metal Sonic to deduce that they had been reprogrammed by SWORD, meaning that SWORD now possessed a far larger robot army than he had anticipated.

Upon entering the town, the first thing he noticed, to his horror, was a 10-foot tall white robot holding an electrified metal object in its metallic claw, threatening a group of children. " Tell me where Sonic, Tails, or Metal Sonic are, or you will be electrocuted and neutralized! " it said threateningly, scaring the children.

After seeing this, his eyes shrunk and dimmed when the electricity coming out of the metal object forcefully reminded him of the electrified wall he had slammed into at four times the speed of sound, and how painful of an experience the electrocution was. While it felt like several seconds to him as he remembered what being electrocuted had felt like, he experienced the memory in an instant, due to his thoughts and senses being sped up from him being in a dangerous situation. Knowing how it felt to be electrocuted made him determined to prevent it from happening to anyone else.

In an instant, he went from panicked with his red eyes shrunken and dim to enraged with his eyes glowing menacingly, and he immediately rushed towards the robot at the speed of sound and started attacking it viciously. He flew in a circle around it with his boost on to surround the robot with a fiery tornado burning it to the point where it dropped the electrified object, spin-dashed through the robot multiple times in a row, homing-attacked every part of it as it fell apart, and bounce-attacked the remains, all at the speed of sound within the span of seconds. The children were awestruck at seeing a blue blur speed towards the robot, turn orange and create a fire tornado around it, and then become a blue blur again and start flying through the robot in every direction, destroying what had threatened them in seconds. When they were finally safe, the blue blur stopped moving to reveal a robotic blue hedgehog with a jet engine chest standing in front of them with his back turned to them, who sighed in relief at defeating the robot that tried to electrocute them. It only took a second for Metal Sonic to realize that he was probably going to freak out some civilians by revealing himself to them, say, " Uh-oh, " and slowly turned around to face the children with a worried expression, expecting his good deed to be swiftly punished.

" YAY! " the children cheered happily, full of appreciation for what he had done for them. Metal stood there in a stunned silence as the children thanked him, saying, " Thank you so much! " " You saved our lives! " " You're a hero! " and, " Cool! A robot version of Sonic saved us! The other kids are never gonna believe this! " As he stared at the sight of the children cheering and thanking him, he slowly started to smile at being treated like a hero for once. He wasn't used to being treated that way by someone not on Eggman's side, and it felt great; and since he was certain this would never happen again, he wanted to appreciate it while it lasted. He wondered why the children weren't afraid of him; either their parents hadn't told them about Eggman's most infamous robot because of their young age, or their youthful innocence made them naive and idealistic enough to trust him and find him admirable simply because of a single act of heroism. He realized it must have been both, since the kids clearly didn't know his name.

After a few seconds of cheering and thanking him, the children stopped, while still looking at him with eyes full of admiration and happiness, and one of the children said, " Wow, Mr. Robot! You saved us from being electrocuted! Why did you do that for us? " Realizing he was revealing his soft side, Metal Sonic looked away with his arms crossed while admitting in a dejected tone with a serious expression, " Because I know how it feels... " The children looked at him with sympathy, understanding why he had felt compelled to save them.

He thought in annoyance, " _Yet another moment where a child makes me show my soft side. Great. Well, I don't suppose I should tell Sonic or Tails about what I just did. After all, even if they did believe me, I don't want them thinking I've gone soft. Nor do I want any of them figuring out about my fear of electricity, which was part of the reason for why I saved these kids in the first place..._ "

It wasn't long before Metal Sonic remembered why he had come into town in the first place. He gasped with his eyes widened and exclaimed fearfully, " Tails! " and flew away from the children at the speed of sound, proceeding to search the whole town in a blue blur that hid his panicked expression.

Thankfully, it only took a minute before he found Tails at the southeastern side of the town. To his relief, the child wasn't injured in the slightest. In fact, when he saw him, he was spin-dashing through the last robot left in the town and destroying it with ease. He was surrounded by the rubble of mechs he had destroyed.

Metal Sonic sighed in relief, getting Tails' attention, and the child looked worried upon seeing him. He smiled nervously and said, " See, I'm fine! I'm not too weak to defeat a bunch of robots attacking a town!... I'm not in trouble, am I? " He was worried that Metal Sonic was going to angrily scold him for running off and getting into danger, and while it was better than getting attacked by him, he was still afraid of it happening. Noticing how afraid he was and not wanting to go back to square one, Metal Sonic sighed, rolled his eyes and replied reluctantly with his arms crossed,

" _No,_ you're not in _trouble._ Let's just go back to the Tornado-1 and not tell Sonic about this. I was not given permission by him to enter the town and protecting you was _my_ responsibility, so it is clear to me that telling Sonic what just transpired would not be a wise idea. And you were told to stay with me, so _you_ might get into trouble as well. Clearly this is something we should _both_ keep secret from him. We're going back to the Tornado-1 to wait for Sonic and remove the tracking device from it. Follow me, I know the way. "

Tails sighed in relief at not getting into trouble, and ran after him as he flew back into the forest at slightly less than the speed of sound. It was only a few minutes before the two of them reached the Tornado-1 at last. After removing the tracking device from the bottom of the plane, Tails destroyed it with the EMP gun while Metal Sonic looked away nervously, and smiled. He placed the EMP gun back into the pocket dimension under the sole of his shoe, and said, " Now we just have to wait for Sonic! He's probably still running through Dragon Road. "

A few seconds passed. Metal Sonic sighed in boredom, and commented in mild annoyance with his arms crossed, " _Why_ doesn't he have a _cell_ _phone_ on him? If he had one on his person, we would be able to contact him and inform him of the mission's completion, as well as give him the information we obtained. Instead he's running around without a cell phone on hand with no way of knowing that we're here. "

Trying to get him less annoyed, Tails said unhappily, " Well, the only place he could put the phone in is in his shoe if I modify it to be like mine, and then he wouldn't be able to hear it ring. If he wears any clothing to put the phone in, the clothing will just get ripped apart when he does a spin-dash. And Sonic always said that part of the reason he likes running is because of the feeling of freedom it gives him! Having a cell phone with him would detract from that feeling by making him feel like he's still tied down because at any moment, someone could call him and interrupt him from his running. Besides, he's already running at the speed of sound right now, and four times faster if he's boosting, so he's already going as fast as he can. Knowing we're here won't make him get here any faster. Although it probably _would_ be better if he knew what we found out as soon as possible. That way, if he sees any unusually fast hummingbirds following him, he'll know what they really are and defeat them before they can find out too much. "

Metal Sonic complained, " They _already_ know about our _next_ _destinations._ They've probably already sent robots there to attack us. " Tails said with a nervous smile, " At least they don't know the exact locations of the Chaos Emeralds! " Metal Sonic said with his hand on his chin looking away from him,

" You're right, but they _must_ be aware that we're searching for the emeralds to storm their base and have a desire to stop us. The only way they could stop us would be to get a hold of the emeralds before we do, and if they get a hold of even one, who knows what they'll do with it? If they're evil enough to kidnap Metal Knuckles, Cubot and Orbot, three innocent robots who are _forced_ to work for that destructive idiot and haven't done anything to _deserve_ this, and they're evil enough to send reprogrammed robots of Eggman's to attack towns while trying to kill us, then who knows what they'll do with a Chaos Emerald? It seems too small-scale of them to simply hide them away from us without using them, and I doubt they would use them to power a particularly destructive mech, like the _idiot_ did with the Master Emerald five years ago. They must be planning something big. Clearly they've captured Metal Knuckles, Cubot, Orbot, and the idiot and imprisoned them in their base, but why? Under normal circumstances I would say that they're trying to lure me into a trap, but SWORD had no way of knowing that I was instructed to come to their base in the first place. They must have a reason for keeping the four of them imprisoned there with them, and simply keeping the idiot from wrecking havoc and inconveniencing GUN or interrogating him for information seems too small-scale for them when they're so dedicated to keeping us from rescuing him that they've sent robots to attack the areas we're in and try to kill us! Obviously they have a plan. They must be planning to make use of the four of them somehow. GUN has collected a massive amount of information on the idiot that includes everything from his plans to what robots he built, and since SWORD is an ally of GUN, it would have access to the same information, so I highly doubt they could be keeping them captured purely for interrogation purposes, when they couldn't possibly give them information they don't already know. The only information they could give them would be irrelevant to them. "

Impressed by his ability to analyze, Tails said, " Well, judging from what that SWORD agent said to us through that robotic hummingbird, they think Eggman's evil, too, so they can't be trying to work with him. They seem to be even more against him than Sonic is! They want to keep him from getting out and continuing to carry out his evil plans _so_ _much_ that they'll even try to _destroy_ me and Sonic for the sake of the greater good! "

Metal Sonic said in annoyance, " I thought GUN was self-righteous, but they _never_ went to lengths as great as _this!_ So it appears to me that not only do they have a plan in mind that they need the idiot captured for, but they believe themselves to be doing the right thing, carrying out the plan with the full approval of their conscience, which will make them all the more dedicated to fulfilling their goals. " Tails nodded, and there was a silence afterwards, as they had said everything they wanted to say about the topic at hand.

Wanting to break the silence, Tails asked curiously, " So, why don't you like GUN? " Metal Sonic answered resentfully, " I was told what they had done on the ARK 50 years ago. " Remembering the adventure where he met Shadow, Tails nodded and said with sympathy for him, " Yeah, that _was_ pretty awful. Shadow's working with them, now, so I guess he's forgiven them. They've gotten a lot better since then. " He smiled. He couldn't believe that Metal Sonic was expressing such disapproval of GUN's actions on the ARK. Even though it happened 50 years ago and didn't involve him, he still hated the fact that it happened. He truly did have a sense of justice, and right and wrong, and Tails couldn't help but be happy about that.

After thinking for a few seconds, Metal Sonic looked worried, and said, " Tails? Kiddo? " Tails asked in curiousity, " Huh? What is it? " Still with his arms crossed and looking away to try and avoid looking weak, Metal Sonic said with a serious expression in a worried tone, " I-I don't believe telling Sonic about SWORD hacking into me is a wise idea. It would only cause him to think that it would happen again. He would stop trusting me to be here because he'll think they'll make me _hurt_ you two. The truth is that they hacked into me with a virus and my antivirus software is advanced enough to adapt it into memory and provide defenses against it, ensuring that they'll never be able to do that again. But, he wouldn't understand... He wouldn't allow me to search for the emeralds with you anymore... "

Tails sighed sadly. While he did trust him a lot more after that experience because of how much he resisted SWORD's control and even said he thought of who they imprisoned as family, Tails was certain that just the thought of Metal Sonic almost being made to attack his little brother figure would cause Sonic to freak out and refuse to let him go along with him anymore. Understanding that some things were meant to be kept secret, Tails said, " You're right. Let's keep that between us... " Relieved, Metal Sonic said, " Good... "

After a few seconds of thinking, Tails smiled warmly at realizing what he had said before. " You really wanna search for the emeralds with _me?_ " Embarrassed at realizing he had revealed his soft side, Metal Sonic nervously looked away and didn't reply to him, hoping it was a rhetorical question. Tails said with a nervous smile, " But I thought that since you feel an obligation to _protect_ me, you would think of searching for the emeralds while alone with me as just a chore, _especially_ when there are dangerous robots nearby. I didn't know you appreciated spending time with me. "

Knowing he had already shown his soft side and there was nothing he could do to hide it, Metal sighed and said with a small smile, " You're a good kid, Tails. There's no reason I wouldn't. " He still had his arms crossed, hoping he looked less like a softie and more like a powerful robot who was impressed with the child.

Tails smiled warmly at hearing that. He never expected Metal Sonic to appreciate spending time with him. He always thought that the robot thought of him as pathetic for not being as good in battle as Sonic, but in the span of one day, he had proven that he thought otherwise. He respected his engineering skills and intellect, and thought he was a good kid who was nice to be around. While there was still a part of Tails that was wary and cautious about trusting Metal Sonic too much and didn't want to let himself get attached to a temporary friend, he trusted him a lot more than he did yesterday, when he thought he was nothing more than an evil robot.

Suddenly, a blue blur sped towards them at the speed of sound and stopped, revealing itself to be Sonic the Hedgehog. " Hi, guys! Guess what I've got! " He revealed that he was holding a Chaos Emerald in his hand, and grinned as Tails said cheerfully, " Great job! " while Metal Sonic made no reaction, having already assumed that Sonic would get it because he and Tails hadn't found the emerald where they looked. Sonic put the emerald in the trunk of the Tornado-1 with a smile, and jumped on the wing of the plane while saying, " Just a few more to go! Shamar, here we come! "

Remembering what he had to tell him, Tails said with a worried tone, " Wait, Sonic! There's something you should know! " Confused and concerned, Sonic asked, " What is it? " Tails explained, " When I was looking for the emerald with Metal Sonic, we encountered these robotic hummingbirds that looked _just_ _like_ the _real_ _thing,_ and we heard an agent of SWORD speak to us through loudspeakers in one of them! Apparently, SWORD built those robotic hummingbirds to spy on us! They heard you telling us where we're going next, so now they're sending armies of robots to wait for us there! And apparently, those robots used to work for Eggman until SWORD reprogrammed them! They must have reprogrammed all of the robots that Eggman sent to attack their base and sent them to _destroy_ us! The SWORD agent told us after we discovered the second bird that they're imprisoning Eggman because he's evil, and that they want to destroy us because they think us _saving_ him is evil _because_ _of_ _that!_ And apparently, they have this _really_ self-righteous motto, talking about how what they do is supposedly for _justice_ and _literally_ saying that they're _always_ right. If they get a hold of the Chaos Emeralds before we do, there's no telling what they might do with them! We're suspecting that they're planning something big, and since they think they're always right, they're going to be even more dedicated to ' doing good ' than we are, so they're not going to give up easily. "

Metal Sonic explained with a serious expression and his arms crossed, " Simply keeping Eggman captured and imprisoned to keep him from endangering the world any longer seems too small-scale for an organization that has started sending robot armies to attack towns in the same manner as Dr. Eggman when _he_ has a plan. All of the data is indicating that they _must_ have a plan, and while they have convinced themselves of their good intentions, I have reason to doubt the validity of their claims. Since their plan will inevitably do more harm than good, it seems that it will be wise for us to stop it. "

Sonic said with an excited smile, " Well, then that's just what we're gonna do! Come on, everyone! Let's go to Shamar! We're got another Chaos Emerald to find! " thrilled at the adventure starting to really feel like there was an antagonistic force he would be working against, only this time, instead of it being Eggman or an evil creature he had released, it would be a group of people he had never dealt with before. Encouraged by his enthusiasm, Tails flew into the pilot's seat of the plane and buckled his seatbelts in preparation, and Metal Sonic buckled himself into the back seat of the plane and tightened his seatbelts just in case.

The plane soon took off into the skies and starting flying to the southwest in the direction of Shamar. While Sonic was excited and Tails was fascinated by the adventure they were going on, Metal Sonic was more serious about it than ever, knowing that if SWORD's plans succeeded, it was unlikely that the world would benefit. Since he was living in that world, he naturally didn't want it to get even worse, when he already thought the world was a cruel and unforgiving place, so knowing that SWORD had an evil plan made him all the more determined to rescue his family from them. During the plane ride, Metal Sonic made sure to keep a close look out for any more robotic hummingbirds that could be following them, with the plan in mind to warn Sonic and Tails about it so that they could homing-attack them and shoot them with the plane's weaponry respectively. Fortunately, he never did see any, but soon came to the conclusion that since SWORD already knew where they were going, they didn't feel that sending more spies after them was necessary.

Since Shamar was a lot closer to Chun-Nan than Chun-Nan was to Station Square, the plane ride to Shamar wasn't nearly as long as the previous one. At the speed the Tornado-1 was traveling, it only took 15 minutes for the plane to land in a desert near the capital of Shamar. Sonic jumped off the wing of the plane and landed gracefully on the ground with a flip before it even landed, while Metal Sonic and Tails waited until the plane was no longer moving before carefully getting out of it.

After leaving the plane, the three of them curiously looked at their surroundings, with Metal Sonic doing so in order to analyze the environment around him for any Chaos Emerald or potential threat. There was a vast sandy desert surrounding them that stretched out for miles in every direction. There were no cacti in sight, and mountains were the only variation in the landscape. At the horizon to the west was a town with Arabic architecture, the same one Sonic had been in during the adventure where he had to be a werehog.

After a few seconds of everyone examining their surroundings, Sonic said with a smile, " Alright, now here's the plan. Metal and I will go through the desert at the speed of sound, staying within each other's sight while searching for a Chaos Emerald, and Tails, you'll go to town and find out if there's any Chaos Emerald there. We'll all meet up at the Tornado-1 in a few hours! "

Metal Sonic was incredibly worried and concerned about Tails going to town without anyone with him to keep him safe, aware of the possibility that a dangerous robot could kill him without anyone there to protect him, but he didn't voice his concern, because he was certain that Sonic with his carefree nature would just assume Tails would be fine. Tails would acknowledge his concern, but because Sonic's the leader of the group, it wouldn't make a difference. All he would be doing is worrying the child, which for all he knew, could negatively impact his fighting abilities. And he fought off the robots in Chun-Nan without any injuries, so if he really got that much luck from Sonic, he would probably be fine in Shamar, too. It was also likely that Sonic would be annoyed at his overprotectiveness of Tails and accuse him of disrespecting him for being a kid, and he couldn't risk the alliance, especially not so far in. So Metal Sonic stayed silent and didn't voice his objections, hoping that the kid wouldn't get himself into any trouble he couldn't get out of.

After making the plan and sending Tails to the town, Sonic ran through Arid Sands with Metal Sonic at the speed of sound, with the two of them not speaking to each other much because of how focused Metal Sonic was on the task at hand. While Sonic was thrilled and excited at running through the area again, Metal Sonic was serious and dedicated to searching for a Chaos Emerald. Both of them boosted a lot as they went through the desert, with Metal Sonic being thankful that his boost had been upgraded nearly five years ago to be more like Sonic's boost but with fire, rather than being damaging to himself or requiring him to stop and regain energy after using it.

While Sonic and Metal Sonic spent hours searching through the desert, Tails spent hours searching through the town. He appreciated getting to visit a foreign country and all, but he couldn't help but be bothered by the heat, and bored of the experience of walking through every street and alley looking for an emerald. It didn't help that he couldn't go into every building and search through it, so he couldn't search the town as thoroughly as he felt was necessary.

When he reached the town plaza three hours later, Tails finally found the Chaos Emerald he was looking for. " There it is! " he exclaimed happily, and ran towards it, only to stop and gasp when several different mechs with jetpacks flew towards the emerald and landed right in front of it, surrounding it. They were clearly combat robots of Eggman's before SWORD reprogrammed them. Thinking fast, Tails spin-dashed through all of them before they could land a hit on him, only to be terrified when a 50-foot tall white robot landed on the ground behind him and grabbed him in front of a gathering crowd of people, holding him high in the air threateningly. It said to him, " Tails located. For trying to rescue Dr. Eggman, you are a threat to the plans of SWORD! Prepare for total destruction! "

Frightened, Tails tried to calm himself down with the thought that Sonic or Metal Sonic would be coming to save him soon. In the meantime, however, he had to do whatever he could to stall for time. " What is SWORD planning?! What are they going to do with a Chaos Emerald?! " he asked while trying to look brave, hoping the robot would be simple-minded enough to tell him.

Fortunately for him, the robot did not understand the meaning of the word, " confidential, " nor did he understand that Tails was stalling for time, and this caused him to answer, " SWORD wants _nothing_ _more_ than to _improve_ _the_ _world_ in a way that you and Sonic never had. All you and Sonic did was carry out a temporary solution to the problem of Eggman's evil schemes. SWORD is going to solve the problem _permanently._ They are keeping the evil doctor imprisoned until they finish developing a serum that will rewire his brain to become their loyal engineer, making him build inventions and robots for SWORD to help them protect Holoska and benefit humanity- "

" They're BRAINWASHING HIM?! " Tails exclaimed, with Sonic's influence causing him to be sickened by the very concept of someone's free will and freedom being stripped away from them. He stammered fearfully, " T-They're, they're enslaving him and BRAINWASHING HIM?! " while the gathering crowd overhearing the commotion looked at him and the robot in shock. Half of them were horrified, while the other half agreed with the plan, with some of them nodding their heads in approval.

" Correct. It is a vital step in the improvement of the world. Another vital step, is the removal of the Chaos Emeralds. All they have _ever_ done is cause war and bloodshed. The entire history of the world has been spent with people fighting over them, and over the past five and a half years, Dr. Eggman has been attempting to use them for evil. It is clear that the only thing the emeralds accomplish by existing is pain and suffering, with people fighting each other over their power. It is because of this that SWORD has decided to destroy the Chaos Emeralds for the greater good, throwing them into a volcano to ensure that no one will abuse the sacred emeralds ever again! They will sink into the lava and the hole in the volcano will be sealed off, preventing anyone from ever using them again! The world will be a safer place, and it will all be because of SWORD! "

Tails was horrified. " What?! But if the Chaos Emeralds get destroyed, Sonic won't be able to turn into Super Sonic anymore! Sometimes he _needs_ to do that to beat a villain like Eggman! And what if destroying the Chaos Emeralds destabilizes the universe and destroys it?! They're mystical jewels of cosmic importance that the universe has spent an untold amount of time being used to! How will it react to them suddenly being destroyed?! " he exclaimed fearfully.

" That's absurd. No one will be required to beat Dr. Eggman once SWORD is finished with him. When SWORD has completed their plans, there will be no more villains threatening the world! They are the ultimate heroes, pursuing truth and justice, and nobody will stand in their way! You have no logical reason to oppose us, because we are the epitome of righteousness! For truth! And justice! We won't let anyone stand in its way, for heroism, and righteousness! WE ARE ALWAYS RIGHT! " Tails couldn't believe what he was hearing. They genuinely did believe themselves to be righteous, despite everything they were planning to do. " We'll never let SWORD do any of that! " he exclaimed, trying to look brave instead of worried. None of the crowd listening to the robot agreed with that part of the plan, being worried and apprehensive at the Chaos Emeralds being destroyed and the world's status quo changing so drastically.

" They _also_ plan to reprogram all of the robots that were formerly on Eggman's side to the side of SWORD if they benefit them and their affiliate GUN. They have already reprogrammed almost all of the robot army Eggman brought with him when he attacked their base, with the exception of Metal Knuckles, Cubot and Orbot, who were imprisoned with Eggman. But they have _much_ bigger plans in mind! Wars have always been fought with humans and Mobians as combatants, and this causes unnecessary bloodshed and misery. When SWORD's plans are complete, wars will only be fought with robots who used to work for Eggman battling each other, removing all of the unnecessary bloodshed. SWORD will reprogram to their side _all_ of the robots who can fight in a war, and _dismantle_ any that are unable to fight in battle, such as Cubot and Orbot, for example. " the robot explained, convinced of SWORD's righteousness. All of the crowd seemed to agree with that plan, seeing robots as nothing but machines made to serve them rather than beings with rights.

Tails gasped sharply, knowing that Cubot and Orbot were some of the robots Metal Sonic was so dedicated to rescuing. Tails exclaimed fearfully, " What?!... You're going to destroy Cubot and Orbot?! "

" NOT IF I CAN HELP IT! " An orange blur sped through the head of the robot at four times the speed of sound and stopped at the ground, revealing itself to have been Metal Sonic doing a homing-attack at the robot's head with his boost turned on. The crowd was shocked as he glared at the robot with his fists clenched and his red eyes glowing menacingly while it malfunctioned and dropped Tails, allowing Tails to fly safely to the ground below and grab the Chaos Emerald on the ground, exclaiming happily, " METAL! "

Metal Sonic instantly flew at the robot that threatened Cubot and Orbot with his boost on, and started flying through every part of it in every direction multiple times, spin-dashing and homing-attacking it, destroying it in an orange blur as a fiery ball of destruction. The robot was completely unable to attack him from the speed he was flying around it. A minute later, the crowd saw nothing left of the dangerous robot other than metal rubble, and Metal Sonic landed on the ground and sighed in relief, no longer looking angry and menacing now that the threat had been neutralized.

Tails exclaimed happily, " You saved me! Oh, I knew you would come! Well, you or Sonic, but either way, I'm alive! " Speaking to Tails in his usual aloof and serious manner with his arms crossed and his back facing the crowd - apparently not noticing it - Metal Sonic stated, " Of course I saved you. We're a team! And I _refuse_ to allow that robot to threaten you and my family and get away with it. Now that I am aware of what SWORD is planning, I will do everything in my power to stop it. Those _idiots_ couldn't _possibly_ be thinking about the potential _negative_ _consequences_ of their _plans._ They're no better than the _idiot_ they're _imprisoning._ "

It was at this point when he heard the sound of children in the crowd cheering for him, and turned around in surprise, looking confused and worried with his black eyes widened as he saw that an entire crowd of people had witnessed him rescue Tails. While most of the crowd simply looked shocked and confused and slightly wary at seeing Metal Sonic working with Tails, the children of the crowd in their youthful innocence were nothing but happy and excited at seeing a robot version of Sonic rescue Tails and save the town. The children all cheered and exclaimed things like, " Cool! A robot Sonic saved the town! " " My mom's never gonna believe this! " " Awesome! " and, " Wow! He's a HERO! " The rest of the crowd was still wary and suspicious of him, but decided not to do anything against him for Tails' sake, not wanting to scare their children or provoke him. Metal Sonic couldn't help but smile at seeing the children cheering and calling him a hero, although since he was embarrassed of showing his soft side, he still had a nervous expression, looking humble in the process.

He turned back to Tails and said while trying to keep his aloof and serious composure, " Y-Yes, well, um. I'll be waiting for you with Sonic, " and flew away at the speed of sound, leaving Tails standing in the town plaza with a Chaos Emerald and a smile on his face. He cheerfully reassured the crowd, " Don't worry, everyone. For now at least, he's on my side, " and used his tails to fly away in the direction that Metal Sonic went, with the Chaos Emerald in his hand, leaving behind a confused and shocked crowd that wondered if Metal Sonic wasn't as evil as they were led to believe.

When Tails and Metal Sonic returned to the Tornado-1, they found Sonic waiting there with a smile on his face, oblivious to what had happened in the town. He chuckled and said, " I see you found the emerald! Great job!... Hey, what's wrong? " He quickly noticed a worried expression on Tails' face.

Tails told him with a panicked tone, " We found out about SWORD's plans, and I don't think you're gonna like them! When I found a Chaos Emerald in the town plaza, I was grabbed by this giant robot of Eggman's that SWORD had reprogrammed to be loyal to them. It wanted to destroy me, so I stalled for time by asking what SWORD was planning, and I was told everything! First of all, SWORD's not keeping Eggman imprisoned just to get information out of him. They're keeping him there so that they can develop a serum that will _brainwash_ _him_ to be _loyal_ to them and build stuff that benefits them for the rest of his life! "

Sonic gasped in horror, with his carefree demeanor breaking for the first time in the adventure. Being someone who loved freedom, he was sickened by the concept of someone being completely brainwashed and losing their free will, and being forced to work for someone they would normally refuse to work for, even if the victim happened to be Eggman. " They're going to BRAINWASH and ENSLAVE him?! " Sonic exclaimed in shock, taken aback by SWORD's plans.

Metal Sonic told him with a determined tone and his arms crossed, " He's not the only one. They've already reprogrammed the army of robots he brought with him to be on their side, which from a robot's perspective, is no better than brainwashing! From what we've found out, they're planning to do the same thing to every single one of his robots and use them as war soldiers, making every war in the world fought between them! They're planning to use every robot that is capable of fighting for this purpose - which _includes_ _Metal_ _Knuckles_ \- and _dismantling_ any that can't. That means that not only are they planning to _brainwash_ _my_ _brother_ and _force_ _him_ to _fight_ in _war,_ but they're going to _destroy_ Cubot and Orbot! How _dare_ they?! Metal Knuckles never _wanted_ to fight in a war, he's too _nice_ for that, and he's never been sent on any mission that has inconvenienced anyone! And Cubot and Orbot never _harmed_ anyone, they're not combat robots, they weren't created for that purpose! None of them did anything to deserve what SWORD is planning for them! I refuse to let them do that to my comrades! As Eggman's most powerful robot, it is _my_ _responsibility_ to keep anything from happening to them. I may not have been originally programmed to feel that way, but it didn't take long for me to realize it was my duty. It's because I'm far more capable of defending myself that it's my responsibility to protect them! They're the people who care about me the most and one of the very few good parts of my life, and I refuse to let anything happen to them! SWORD won't get away with this! They'll pay for threatening my family! "

As Metal Sonic was ranting about SWORD threatening Metal Knuckles, Cubot and Orbot in righteous indignation, Sonic couldn't help but feel incredibly proud of him. He had developed a sense of right and wrong. He had a sense of justice. He cared about more than just himself, to the point of thinking of three of his favorite coworkers as his family. Sonic had suspected this with the way he was behaving, but seeing him rant about SWORD in righteous indignation from their evil plan being something he disapproved of, confirmed it for good. It was because of this that Sonic had to hold back a smile of approval, because while he wanted to express his approval at the moment, he knew that it was far too serious of a situation for his smiling during it to be considered acceptable. He was being told about SWORD's plans, so he had to look serious and concerned, not smiling as if he was amused at Metal Sonic disapproving of them. He also couldn't help but be confused at Metal Sonic referring to those three robots as " people, " since robots didn't fit his definition of that word, being artificial beings and all. He wondered if Metal Sonic would be offended at him saying that; he clearly thought of himself as more than just a machine, and believed that a robot's life had value all on its own. When he heard him say that those three robots were the very few good things about his life, Sonic couldn't help but feel concerned about him. Was his life working for Eggman really _that_ bad?

Tails explained with a panicked tone, " That's not all they're planning to do! You know how SWORD is trying to collect the Chaos Emeralds before we do? Well, that's because they're planning to _DESTROY_ _THEM!_ They think that because people keep fighting over them and Eggman wants to abuse them, that the world would be better off _without_ them! They wanna throw all of the Chaos Emeralds into a volcano and seal off the hole in the top so that nobody can ever get them again! "

" What?! That's crazy! They don't know what kind of impact that could have! What if destroying something as powerful as the Chaos Emeralds ends up destroying the universe?! And I doubt this is good news for Knuckles, either, because their same logic could also apply to the Master Emerald that keeps their power in check! They might want to throw _it_ in a volcano, _too!_ And if they destroy the Master Emerald before the Chaos Emeralds, the Chaos Emeralds might become _way_ too powerful and _chaotic_ from losing what kept them in check! Don't they know how _dangerous_ that plan is?! And I thought Eggman using the Master Emerald to power a destructive mech was bad! But this could actually destabilize the universe! Sure, they don't actually want that to happen, but still! We _can't_ let them destroy the emeralds! The universe is probably so _used_ to their existence in it that it'll _collapse_ without them, and besides, if all the emeralds are in a volcano, how am I supposed to go super? What if I need to do that again, but can't? " Sonic exclaimed anxiously, recognizing the seriousness of the situation.

" Exactly! " Tails said with a worried tone. Metal Sonic said in determination, " I _knew_ they were planning something. Sonic, we _have_ to collect the last two emeralds as soon as possible! I don't know how much time we have left before they finish developing the serum, but I'm certain that once they've brainwashed Eggman, they'll carry out their plans with Metal Knuckles, Cubot and Orbot _next,_ and I refuse to allow that to happen to them! "

Sonic said confidently, " That's just what we're gonna do! Come on, everyone, let's take to the skies! Only two more emeralds to go! " and jumped onto the wing of the plane, finally seeing an acceptable moment to smile and express his approval of Metal Sonic's righteous indignation. Tails used his tails to fly into the pilot's seat and buckled up in it to prepare for flight, and Metal Sonic buckled himself into the back seat and tightened the seatbelts as usual, looking serious and determined to stop SWORD's plans to hurt the ones he cared about the most. He opposed SWORD's plans to destroy the emeralds and potentially the universe as well, and he wanted to stop them from brainwashing Eggman and stealing all his robots because then his life would be drastically changed. But when he found out they were planning to brainwash Metal Knuckles from the nice and peaceful robot he was into a war soldier for them, and murder Cubot and Orbot simply for not being able to fight in a war, they made it personal.

The flight to Ice Mountain Zone took around an hour, since it was the plane going from one hemisphere to the other, and throughout all of it, Metal Sonic was wishing that the plane would go faster. While his face showed purely boredom and annoyance with SWORD, deep down, he was worried sick about the possibility that he wouldn't save his comrades in time, or that he was already too late. He was relieved when the plane finally landed in Ice Mountain Zone at last. The sooner he got that emerald, the better.

Sonic jumped off the wing of the plane and landed on the soft fluffy snow on the ground below him, but his carefree smile soon faded when he remembered all of the water that the area had. It was bad enough that Ice Mountain Zone was freezing cold and him and Tails weren't wearing winter clothes - after all, they would be ripped apart from a single spin-dash - but the water made the area almost unbearable. There was a reason he kept it for last. His hydrophobia made him fear drowning more than almost anything else, and it was his awareness of this that made Eggman make him go through water areas in the first place, in the hopes that his fear would cause him to back out or get killed while he was panicking. He never liked Ice Mountain Zone, not just because it was cold, but also because of the water. He didn't like the possibility that the Chaos Emerald was underwater or in an area that he had to go through an underwater area to reach.

It was times like this that made Sonic thankful that he had help looking for the emerald. He smiled again at turning to face Tails and Metal Sonic, who had gotten out of the plane. Tails could fly, which made traveling through water a lot easier for him because he could just fly through the water and get out of it to prevent himself from running out of air. And Metal Sonic could not only fly, but he didn't need to breathe. He was the best equipped to deal with the water areas out of the three of them. He probably wouldn't appreciate being sent to search for the Chaos Emerald underwater, but Sonic knew he would do it anyways; not just to avoid risking the alliance, but also because of how determined he was to complete his mission after finding out what SWORD was planning to do. He could rely on him. He knew he could.

He said with a smile, " Okay, here's what we'll do. Tails, you'll search through every part of the area that requires going through underwater areas to get to, and Metal, you'll search for the Chaos Emerald in the underwater areas that aren't required to get to the end of the area. After all, you two can both fly and one of you doesn't really have to breathe, so water shouldn't be a problem for you! Meanwhile, I'll speed through the area avoiding _all_ the water and running across its surface if I have to. We'll meet back here later! I know we can do this, guys! "

Metal Sonic didn't exactly like being underwater. He was used to breathing; it was a reflex, something he had to consciously make himself not do. Not breathing was by definition defying his programming, resisting his most base instincts, and he hated it. It was bad enough that he had to force himself not to breathe in the Tornado-1 when he was panicking over seeing those electrified walls - he was certain Sonic and Tails would hear his rapid breathing and realize he was afraid - but being pressured to not breathe or else water would get inside him? That was worse.

But even though he didn't like having to go underwater, he knew that he had no choice but to agree to do what Sonic asked. Saying no would risk the alliance, and Sonic was right in that he really was the best choice for the job, being a robot and all. And if going underwater for a while was required to rescue the ones who cared about him the most, that was just what he was going to do. So instead of voicing his concerns, he immediately nodded when Sonic gave him the task.

With that, Sonic ran at the speed of sound into the area he had been in two years before. Tails and Metal started out following him, only to soon separate as they all started searching in the areas they had been assigned. While Sonic searched above water and ran across the surface of the water to avoid falling into it, Tails searched through the parts of the area above water that he needed to go through an underwater area to reach, and Metal Sonic was stuck flying through the majority of the underwater areas at the speed of sound, paying very close attention to not breathing and keeping his eyes on the bottom of the underwater areas for a Chaos Emerald. He was determined to be the one to find the emerald this time; he wasn't exactly enjoying searching for it, and if someone else got it, he would feel like he had just wasted his time.

While he spent the next hour searching for a Chaos Emerald alone, he had a lot of time to think. He wasn't nearly as grateful for being alone as he was in Marble Garden Zone, since Tails warming up to him meant that he didn't feel like as much of an outcast as before, so it wasn't nearly as awkward working with Sonic as it used to be. Granted, he still didn't like having to keep all of his complaints, sarcasm and thoughts that could risk the alliance if spoken aloud to himself, but he was used to doing that around Eggman when his creator was in a bad mood. He was used to bottling up his emotions. So he only really had a problem with it because it was hard to get used to trying to avoid offending Sonic. He had gotten used to it more quickly than he expected to. He still felt like he didn't belong, but not nearly as much as before Tails stopped being so irrationally afraid of him. But even though he had gotten used to working with Sonic and Tails during the alliance, he still appreciated the moments where he could be alone with his thoughts, feeling like there was no one around to judge him, like he didn't have to be very careful about what emotions he expressed and what he said and even his own body language for the sake of the alliance. He was alone, and so he could finally think.

As he searched through Ice Mountain Zone, he thought, " _Finally, I'm alone with my thoughts. Well, I've gotten used to working with Sonic a lot faster than I anticipated. In fact, I didn't think I would get used to it at all. I suppose Tails no longer being so irrationally afraid of me may have something to do with that. Granted, I still feel like I don't belong, but at least Sonic's doing everything he can to alleviate that, and ever since the incident in Chun-Nan, Tails has been doing that, as well. He's actually smiling around me and treating me like an ally of his... Come to think of it, when I destroyed that robot that was threatening to kill him, the kid called me ' Metal ' for the first time since the mission began. He called me ' Metal, ' just like Metal Knuckles, and Orbot, and Cubot, and for the time being, Sonic... They're calling me by the same name that my comrades do... They... they may have even grown attached to me, and started to appreciate having me around... That... that's absurd. Preposterous! That can't possibly be true! That sounds too good to be true! I can't get my hopes up just for them to be crushed! They're only letting me be around them because it's temporary!... They know it's temporary, right?... It can't be anything but temporary. I don't have a choice in that regard. They are aware of that, right?..._ "

He soon became worried. " _What if they're expecting me to stay on their side permanently? If they really have their hopes up for that, then the end of the alliance will only cause them to feel like I betrayed them and let them down, and make them hate and despise me far more than they ever did before! I-I mean, not like I want that juvenile hedgehog not to hate me or anything, but I could benefit from their trusting me, and I don't want that to end! I don't want to lose their trust and be unable to gain it back if I need it again! If they expect me to not return to working for the idiot like I always have, they're going to take me doing so as a sign that they never should've trusted me to begin with. They've finally started to see that I'm not ' pure evil ' like everyone thinks I am. Would the end of the alliance end all that?_ "

He thought unhappily, " _It's not like I have a choice in the matter. Sonic and Tails may be naive and idealistic enough to think that the world would stop hating me if I simply joined their side, but it's not that simple. The only reason Omega could pull it off was that he became comrades with Shadow and an agent of GUN. He was a low-ranking combat robot who was thrown into a room and locked away before the public could ever see him following his orders. But it's already too late for me. Out of all of Eggman's robot slaves, I'm the most well known. I'm not even remotely satisfied having to take orders from that bumbling moron, but what else am I supposed to do? Leaving his side would mean giving up my home, my bedroom, my books, and my comrades. I would lose everything! At least in home base, I have a place where I feel like I belong. I have to watch what I say around Sonic! I have to be extremely careful around him! Even if him and I became comrades, I could never be completely honest with him! But around Metal Knuckles, Orbot and Cubot, I can be honest. I can complain about my life and express my opinions and tell them things I would never tell anyone else, and not have to worry about losing their trust and respect. While I still resent taking orders from such an incompetent self-absorbed and narcissistic control freak, at least living with him gives me a place to live where I'm surrounded by people who like me for who I am. If I left home, I would be separated from them. I doubt Metal Knuckles, Cubot and Orbot would agree to leave home with me and radically change their lives just so that I wouldn't be alone. So I would lose all of my friends, all of the people who care about me, and for what? Not having an irritating boss? Is that really worth it?_ "

After he flew out of the third lake and started flying at the speed of sound above water looking for the next underwater area, Metal Sonic sighed melancholically, and thought, " _Redemption for me is impossible. Even if the world could look past the fact that I'm Eggman's highest ranking and ' favorite robot, ' - even though I'm certain he doesn't acknowledge that I'm a person and he still thinks of me as his slave - they would never trust me after what I did two and a half years ago. I wasn't even thinking straight when I did it, I've changed since then, but they would never believe it. True, it is looking increasingly likely that Sonic and Tails would accept me after the events of this mission, but would their trust alone convince an entire world of people against me? Of course not. I can't start fighting Eggman on their side if I can't even go out in public without the police being called. And a lot of the time, going out in public is exactly what they have to do. I would be expected to pull my weight and help them, but how could I help them if they would have to hide me from everybody? They would only think of me as a burden. An inconvenience. A nuisance. As satisfying as it would be to get to fight that idiot and see his reactions to me destroying his mechs and ruining his plans, I can't do it with only the approval of Sonic and Tails. So if I couldn't join them, leaving Eggman would force me to resort to a life on the run._ "

He sighed wearily before flying into the next lake, and thought, " _I would hate a life on the run. I've thought it through and contemplated it hundreds of times, and it never looks any less miserable to me. I would have nowhere to live, nowhere to seek shelter from lightning storms, and nowhere safe to sleep at night. My idiot creator would be constantly searching for me, sending army after army of robots after me, and I can't stay awake forever; eventually I would run low enough on battery that I would deactivate, and they would find me. I suppose after the events of this mission, Tails might be willing to repair any damage I would sustain, making Eggman reprogramming me to admire him being less likely, but could I really trust the kid not to reprogram me himself? So I would have no one I could truly trust to fix me if I inevitably get damaged, which would happen eventually during a life on the run. I would have no one to support me, no one that cared about me, no one to turn to if things went wrong. I would have no access to any of my books, so I would have nothing to do all day other than fighting off any mechs sent to capture me. And while I do love the idea of being able to spend a lot more time than 30 minutes fighting every day, I would never be satisfied with having nothing but that to do. What would be the point of even living?! What would be the point of leaving his side if my only reward was a lonely existence where I had nothing to do except defeat any mechs sent to capture me? Fighting alongside Sonic would be a much better alternative, but an unreachable one that would be unrealistic to expect. It would never work, I'm certain of it. True, I have done some things that could be considered heroic, even during this very mission; in Chun-Nan, I prevented some children from being electrocuted by destroying a robot about to do it, and in Shamar, I destroyed a robot about to kill Tails that had revealed SWORD's plans to a crowd of people and showed them that I was against what they wanted to do. If those incidents made it on the news, they could do something for my reputation, assuming people believe any of the witnesses to begin with. Which they never do. Even if they made a video, it would only be called fake._ "

He had a depressed expression as he thought, " _Nothing would convince the world to trust one of Eggman's robots when it's been prejudiced against them for years. Omega was the exception that proved the rule. I can't leave Eggman's side. It's not an option for me. As miserable as I am working for him, leaving him would only make my life worse! And the world doesn't even need me working to save it, anyways; it already has plenty of heroes as it is. The world doesn't need me and it doesn't want me. I can't join Sonic's side as long as that remains true... Doesn't he realize this? If it were really that simple, I would've done it a long time ago. Granted, working for Sonic would take some getting used to, but if this mission was any indication, I would get used to it eventually, and so would they! If it weren't for all of these annoying complications, I would stay on their side. If it were really that simple, I wouldn't be so hesitant. But it isn't. And it looks like I'm going to have to explain this to them before the day is over. They're never going to understand that it's not that simple. They're going to insist that they at least try to convince the world to trust me. They're going to insist that I shouldn't be so hesitant to leave Eggman's side because I don't desire to abandon my closest friends. They're going to insist that being a hero is worth drastically changing my life - possibly for the worse - simply for the sake of it. They aren't going to take it very well... I am NOT looking forward to telling them._ "

After almost an hour of searching, Metal Sonic finally found the Chaos Emerald at the bottom of the final lake. Relieved that he didn't have to hold his breath anymore, he picked it up and flew out of the lake and up into the sky at the speed of sound, returning to where the Tornado-1 was left to wait for Sonic and Tails to show up.

When they did, Tails was shivering. Sonic wasn't as cold as him because he spent so much of his time running above land keeping himself warm with the friction, but Tails, who had to spend so much of his time under freezing water, was not in such good condition. Feeling sorry for him, Sonic apologized, " Sorry, little bro. It had to be done, " with his hand on Tails' shoulder. He ruffled his hair as Tails smiled nervously, and then said with a smile, " Great job, Metal! You've found us the sixth one! Now we're finally done searching through areas of the world looking for Chaos Emeralds! The last one we need is... "

His smile faded and he looked exasperated while saying, " With Shadow... " and groaned with his hand on his forehead, annoying Metal Sonic and making him roll his eyes at him with his arms crossed, getting into the back seat of the plane so Sonic wouldn't notice his irritated expression. Tails did, however, and wondered if Metal Sonic respected Shadow, and if so, why? Shadow was certainly a powerful hedgehog, but his personality was so serious and hard to get along with... much like Metal Sonic himself. It soon started to make sense to the child. But as he got into the pilot's seat and buckled himself in, he couldn't help but wonder what event had caused the robot to respect Shadow so much. Sonic jumped onto the wing of the plane and said, " Don't worry, buddy. We're going home first so that you can have some warm blankets to warm you up, and I'll run to Shadow's house myself while you stay home. Let's take to the skies! "

As Metal Sonic tightened his seatbelts just in case, the plane took flight, flying high above the icy mountain below. During the flight to Sonic and Tails' house, Metal Sonic stared at the ground to the left of him with his hand on his chin with a bored and annoyed expression while Sonic cheerfully bantered with Tails about nothing in particular, which included making plans for ordering pizza later and complimenting Tails on his work on the plane.

It wasn't long before the plane landed in the Mystic Ruins on the runway near Sonic and Tails' house, and Sonic jumped off the wing of the plane as it landed. When it finally stopped moving, Tails and Metal Sonic unbuckled their seatbelts and got out of the plane. Sonic took the Chaos Emeralds out of the plane, ran at the speed of sound into Tails' Workshop to put the emeralds with the others, and then back to Tails instantly, looking like a blue blur vanishing and then reappearing in under a second.

Seeing that Tails was still shivering, Sonic put his arm around him compassionately and said unhappily with a gentle and caring tone, " I'm sorry, little bro. This is _all_ _my_ _fault._.. Want me to carry you to the couch? " Tails smiled nervously and said with embarrassment at Metal Sonic seeing what was happening, " Aw, Sonic, I'm not three-years-old anymore... " blushing from appreciating the kindness he was getting from Sonic that he had been deprived of before meeting him; not that he knew that, since like most people, he had no memory of when he was three-years-old, and Sonic thought it was better not to remind him. He barely remembered meeting Knuckles, let alone being bullied for having two tails on Cocoa Island, and Sonic believed it was better that way.

Sonic ruffled his hair and walked with the shivering Tails to their house with his arm around him while Metal Sonic followed them, taking note of the love and kindness Sonic was treating his little brother figure with when he was worried about him. It was heartwarming how Sonic was such a loving big brother to Tails, someone who wasn't even related to him, and yet he took the responsibility of raising him anyways. He had always appreciated this side of Sonic, even if it didn't benefit him, and the part of him that always tried to hide his soft side was reluctant to admit that to himself. He had been seeing throughout the entire adventure that Sonic wasn't just this cocky annoying jerk who taunted and teased his enemies and got a sadistic kick out of annoying them with immature insults; to most people, he was friendly, charismatic, and carefree, being incredibly difficult not to like.

Metal Sonic always heard that Sonic acted friendly towards most people, but he was so fixated on the way Sonic treated _him_ that for most of his life, he was convinced that Sonic was only pretending to be friendly and nice for PR reasons, and that the way he acted towards his enemies was his true self. As he became older, Metal had realized gradually that this wasn't the case, and that he shouldn't have been judging Sonic purely based on the way he treated his enemies, keeping in mind that the world judged him the same way and he knew it was unfair. But while Metal Sonic had known intellectually that Sonic was normally a friendly and caring person for years, his going on a mission with him was the first time that he ever got to see his caring side, the side of him he showed to everyone else, and right now, the side he showed to Tails when he was worried about him. He liked that side of him, even if a part of him was reluctant to admit it. While he was still annoyed by Sonic's recklessness and immaturity caused by his carefree nature, being certain that the only thing keeping him alive was luck, he was thankful that at least Sonic was being friendly and nice instead of cocky and irritating like he had always personally known him as.

As Metal Sonic walked into the house feeling conflicted and hiding it with a bored expression, Sonic brought Tails to the couch so that he would sit down on it, ran away in a blue blur and came back with several blankets from the closet at the speed of sound, covering Tails over with them saying compassionately, " There you go. " Sonic ruffled his hair again with Tails smiling as a result, and said unhappily, " Now I'm gonna have to go to Shadow's house and try to convince him to let me borrow his Chaos Emerald. "

" Why wouldn't he lend it to you? " Metal Sonic questioned in annoyance with Sonic's confusing exasperation with Shadow. " I understand that you cannot tell him the true reason for why you require it, but all you would have to do is tell him you need it to save the world, and he would give it to you without question. I fail to see the difficulty in this. "

Sonic and Tails were once again surprised and confused by his behavior, with Sonic noticing his respect for Shadow for the first time. He had never seen anyone have such faith in Shadow before. " Well, whenever I try to get his help, he always wants me to do something first. There's _always_ gotta be a _condition._ He keeps saying it's because he's annoyed by my personality. So I doubt it'll be as simple as just going up to him and asking for the emerald to stop Eggman, " Sonic complained.

" I'm sure he'll only ask you to bring him back the emerald when it scatters across the world after you've used it. He recognizes the importance of saving the world. He's a hero, too, you know. He'll understand, " Metal Sonic replied nonchalantly, sitting down on the couch at the other end of Tails while failing to realize how human and natural his speech had sounded.

Sonic was mildly annoyed by Metal Sonic having such faith in Shadow's good nature when he was usually so cynical and pessimistic, but he didn't want to show it and risk Metal Sonic worrying that he had gotten into trouble and risked the alliance by having an argument with him. So instead of rolling his eyes, he smiled and said with a friendly tone, " You sure have a high opinion of Shadow. I guess it does make sense, since you're so similar in personality to him, that you would like him so much. You two have a lot in common! "

From hearing this, Metal Sonic had a smile on him that neither of them had ever seen before, with his eyes widened and an expression that implied he was honored to be compared to the ultimate lifeform. " Really? " he said in a quiet but pleased tone, making Tails all the more curious. He didn't even notice that he was letting his guard down and showing his soft side around Sonic and Tails, because of how honored he was that he could have anything in common with Shadow.

" Yeah! You're both really serious and determined and have an independent nature, and act all aloof all the time instead of being friendly to everyone you meet! You both think things through a lot instead of taking huge risks on a whim for the sake of excitement. That's what I do, and while it is pretty fun, I'm not about to say that my way's the right way for everyone. And you're both intelligent and great at fighting, sharing the same abilities as me with your own unique ones. I can see why you like him so much. Birds of a feather flock together, you know? Heh heh. Speaking of Shadow, I think it's about time I go to his house for the emerald. See you in a bit! " Sonic said cheerfully, playfully teasing Metal Sonic and trying not to offend him by complimenting him and being careful about what exactly he said. Sonic ran out of the house at the speed of sound in a blue blur, instantly disappearing after he said that, while Metal Sonic smiled on the couch, honored that he had so much in common with Shadow. " Wow... "

After a couple seconds, however, he realized he was letting his soft side show in front of Tails, looked embarrassed, cleared his throat and crossed his arms while saying with an aloof demeanor nonchalantly, " I mean... it is only logical that it would be a good thing that I have so much in common with such a powerful hedgehog, " causing Tails to smile and stifle a giggle. Sonic had left Metal Sonic alone with Tails again, but because Tails finally trusted him, he didn't mind.

Overcome with curiousity, Tails asked, " So, what happened to make you respect Shadow so much? I've never seen anyone express such admiration of him before! Not that there's no reason to admire him. I'm just curious about what event caused you to respect him more than anyone else I know, since he's supposed to be your enemy most of the time. "

Metal Sonic sighed wearily. He knew he was going to have to tell Tails the truth, because the kid wouldn't stop pestering him about it until he knew the answer. Hoping Tails would believe him, he explained with a serious tone that gradually gave way to informality, " Two years ago, Eggman was locked away and impersonated by Eggman Nega, a descendant of his that came from a so-called ' soul dimension ' 200 years ahead of ours, who wanted to destroy the world with a fire elemental called an Ifrit, and my creator sent me to Shadow to get his help in stopping him. Before he did that, he put a Chaos Emerald in me as a power source, removing my necessity to breathe, and temporarily removed my ability to speak while placing loudspeakers in me so that _he_ could be the one to talk to Shadow. I suppose it was because he's such an _arrogant_ _narcissist_ that _he_ wanted to be the one doing _all_ the _talking_ while I, as his robot _slave,_ wasn't able to say _anything._ So I went to him for help, the _idiot_ did the talking, and thankfully for everyone involved, Shadow agreed without hesitation. I spent an entire mission with him after that, fighting alongside him to prevent the world's destruction by Eggman Nega! And while it _was_ annoying not being able to speak to him, the mission still managed to be the _greatest_ _mission_ of my _life!_ He never _once_ acted like he didn't trust me or insulted me or, _anything_ like that. He was serious about the mission like I was, so he wasn't friendly like Sonic is to me right now, but it didn't change the fact that he treated me like his ally. At one point, he even asked if I was okay!... I, I couldn't believe it! No one who wasn't on Eggman's side had ever asked me if I was okay before. And at the end of the mission, the two of us were trapped in the Ifrit's dimension, and I had to take the Chaos Emerald out of my chest so that Shadow could Chaos Control us back home, painful though it may have been. I couldn't tell him about my intentions, and my connection with the idiot had been broken because we were in a separate dimension, so Shadow wasn't aware of what I was doing at first, and he actually got _concerned_ _about_ _me_ and expressed a _worry_ that I would _destroy_ myself! And when I gave him that emerald, instead of leaving me in that dimension to never be repaired again, he brought me home... No one not on Eggman's side had ever treated me with such compassion before... " Tails couldn't help but feel sorry for him when he said that last sentence.

" So if you were wondering why I respect the ultimate lifeform so much, there's your answer, kiddo. I gained a whole new respect for him because of that. Spending an entire mission with him had changed my opinion of him from _apathetic_ _and_ _neutral_ to respecting him more than anyone else in the world... " Metal Sonic told him, with a melancholic tone that made it clear that he wished Shadow and him could work together again. Pitying him, Tails said, " I understand now... " and thought,

" _I can't believe this adventure has had me feeling sorry for Metal Sonic. I never realized he would appreciate being treated with compassion so much by someone not on his side! I never could've imagined he would respect Shadow so much! I guess he's pretty jealous of Omega. He got to leave Eggman's side, be friends with Shadow, and even join GUN, and it looks like he has no problem being trusted. He's able to live a sorta normal life as a trusted agent of GUN and friend of Shadow. Would that even be possible for Metal Sonic? He's so infamous that I don't know if anyone would trust him. It's amazing that I do! And even then, it's only for this one adventure... I hope. I know I shouldn't get attached to him when he's just gonna go back to being my enemy after this. But still, I saw a side of him I've never seen before. He's not acting vicious around me and Sonic like he always did. I wonder if this is who he really is? Is this how he acts towards the ones on his side? Is this how he treats his friends?... Does he consider me to be his friend?... For now, at least, obviously not forever. For now at least, he seems to care about me... Wow... I've learned a lot in the past two days... I can't believe the adventure's about to come to an end._ "

Suddenly, there was a flash of light in the room coming from outside the window, which immediately caught Tails and Metal's attentions, making Metal look at the window alert and focused while Tails was simply confused. Seven seconds later, they were both startled by the loud booming of thunder and jumped at hearing it, with Tails gasping and Metal Sonic tensing up and looking scared. Tails quickly took note of Metal Sonic's reaction to thunder and lightning, and stared at him in confusion and concern as he panicked, with his red eyes shrunken to the size of tiny dots, and tried to calm himself down. Shaking, Metal Sonic said to himself in a whispered and hurried voice,

" Okay, calm down. There were seven seconds between the flash of light and the thunder, meaning that the lightning struck some place far away, which means the area getting struck by lightning will be far away from me. I'm safe! I'm safe! " There was a flash of light again that made him jump, and this time, the thunder was heard five seconds later, causing him to gasp. Tails was still scared, but he was more focused on the strange behavior of the robot in front of him. Getting even more panicked, Metal Sonic told himself,

" Lightning always strikes the highest point! Since this area has a vast quantity of mountains, the lightning is just striking the mountains! So what if the house is on a hill?! There are plenty of things closer to the sky in the vicinity! I'm safe! I'm safe! " There was another flash of light, and this time, Tails and Metal Sonic could actually see lightning through the window striking the wall of the mountain across from the house. " NO! There's a window here! What if it strikes me through it?! " he exclaimed fearfully. Seeing electricity put Metal Sonic into full-on panic mode and frightened him to the point where he no longer cared about calming himself down to avoid looking weak. All he cared about was preventing himself from being electrocuted again. Hearing the loud thunder barely seconds afterwards caused him to completely panic and fly into the basement in a blue blur, shutting the door behind him, causing Tails to gasp at the sight.

Tails was scared of lightning himself, but it was clear to him that he didn't fear it nearly as much as Metal Sonic, and he was puzzled and curious about why that was, as well as overwhelmed with concern and pity for him. Taking the blankets with him because he was still shivering, he quietly tip-toed over to the basement door and very slowly opened it enough to see Metal Sonic lying on the floor of the basement shaking in fear, with his back turned to the door. Tails couldn't believe it. He wanted to comfort him and make him feel better, but he was certain that being seen like that would only make him worse from the humiliation of looking weak. As he reluctantly returned to the living room couch feeling guilty about not being able to comfort him, he thought,

" _Why is Metal Sonic more afraid of lightning than I am?! I'm a kid, it makes sense that I'm scared of it, but he's a powerful robot! It's hard to imagine him being afraid of anything! It's not like he's had any experiences with lightning that would've gave him a good reason to be afraid of it... But he has had experiences with electricity, hasn't he? Sonic told me that he slammed into an electrified wall after one of his fights with him, and that after he did, he screamed in such pain that even Sonic felt sorry for him! Is that what this is all about?! Is he having flashbacks?! Is this reminding him of when he was electrocuted?! Is he..._ "

Upon realizing that Metal Sonic could've developed PTSD from flying into an electrified wall, Tails was overwhelmed with pity for him. He wished that he could've prevented it. Knowing that he had a lot less of a reason to fear thunder and lightning than Metal Sonic caused him to be ashamed of his fear of it all the more, and he sighed unhappily, hoping that the storm would end before they had to fly the Tornado-1 to SWORD's base. After all, lightning always strikes the highest point.

Meanwhile, Sonic reached Shadow's house after a long period of running at the speed of sound, and reluctantly rang the doorbell. " Sooooooonic! " He gasped at hearing Amy angrily call out his name behind him, and turned around to see her standing behind him with her hammer ready, looking furious. " YOU STOOD ME UP AGAIN! " Amy yelled at him. As soon as Shadow opened the door, Sonic ran inside past him, slammed the door shut, and locked the door in a panic as Amy started smacking the door angrily and repeatedly.

Sonic turned to Shadow, who was standing with his arms crossed and an amused smirk on his face, and begged him, " I need your Chaos Emerald! Please! It's an emergency! " Shadow deadpanned, " I assume you require it to defeat the doctor? " Sonic nodded frantically, and cringed at hearing Amy calling out his name again angrily.

Shadow looked amused again, and decided to take advantage of an opportunity. The truth was that he would've let Sonic have the emerald to defeat Eggman anyways, since Eggman winning would inconvenience him and make the world a worse place - which definitely wouldn't be something Maria would've approved of - and he was certain Sonic would just steal his emerald if he refused to give it to him anyways. But Sonic was convinced that he would only get the emerald if he did what he wanted, and Shadow wasn't one to let an opportunity like that pass him by. Sonic was going to do anything he asked, and he had the perfect idea.

" I will relinquish my control of it temporarily on two conditions, blue hedgehog. First, bring the emerald back to me after you are finished with it, and second... You have to _kiss Amy Rose._ " Shadow deadpanned most of what he said, and had an amused smirk on the last sentence, entertained by the horrified reaction of the immature blue hedgehog in front of him. " WHAT?! " Sonic exclaimed with his hands on his head, causing Shadow to chuckle at the sight. Shadow clarified, " On the lips, for six seconds. "

Panicking, Sonic thought, " _He wants me to kiss Amy?! Even if I did like her, why would I want to kiss her when she's like this?! What if opening the door causes me to get hurt before I can even do it?! It's a risk to my health AND my dignity! Arrgh, why would he make me do this?!... But what other choice do I have? My only other option is stealing the emerald, and I don't know how long Shadow will be home! I have to get it as soon as possible, I don't have time to wait for him to leave so I can take it, and he's probably just gonna leave with it anyways!... Ugh, it looks like I don't have a choice._ " So after a few seconds of panicking, Sonic sighed in exasperation and exclaimed angrily, " Fine! "

He unlocked the door, opened it quickly, threw his arms around Amy and kissed her before she could react to the door being opened and attack him. She was shocked by the sudden kiss, but rather than getting angrier, she dropped her hammer, started blushing and closed her eyes, placed her hands on his shoulders, and enjoyed it, being reminded of how much she loved him with that one action. The rational part of her mind was telling her that he was obviously only doing it because Shadow was forcing him to, since he looked annoyed and worried before doing it and Shadow was watching with a smirk from the front door, but the emotional part of her mind that completely dominated it was too overwhelmed with happiness at the kiss to care why it was happening.

After it ended and Sonic pulled away, Amy was smiling in pure joy and happiness, infatuated and with all of her anger having faded away and disappeared. She sighed happily at the kiss, and commented, " If that's what you're gonna do after standing me up, then go ahead and do it! " and giggled. Sonic sighed in exasperation and said, " Listen, you can't tell anyone else about this, alright? " Wanting to do anything for him to make it more likely that she'll be kissed again, Amy promised him, " I won't. It'll be between you and me! " She saw Shadow standing at the door with his arms crossed and an amused smirk on his face, and added, " And Shadow. " She giggled and said, " See you later, Sonic! Hope you enjoyed the kiss, because you can do it _whenever_ you _want!_ "

Amy ran back home afterwards, and Sonic moaned in embarrassment, shaking his head with his hand on top of it. He thought unhappily, " _Ugh, why couldn't it have been Blaze? It would've still been embarrassing, but not nearly as much!_ " The kiss on its own wasn't really that bad - if anything, it was kind of nice - but the fact that it was with Amy Rose, was humiliating for him. He was a free spirit, someone adventurous and carefree who loved freedom and didn't want to be tied down, and he was proud of how he avoided Amy's advances because it was the perfect representation of that, of who he was. It was because of this that he would be humiliated by the very thought of giving into Amy's advances and letting himself be tied down into a relationship, having his freedom restricted even more than his duty as the hero of the world and his responsibility of raising Tails already did. It wasn't just the fact that it was Amy, it was the idea of getting into a relationship at all that embarrassed him, and he hoped for the sake of his dignity and reputation that Amy wouldn't tell anyone what he did.

He was distracted from his thoughts when Shadow handed him the green Chaos Emerald and told him, " You kept your word, blue hedgehog. You earned this, " and smirked again at the thought of what he got him to do. Sonic sighed, said, " Thanks, " took the emerald and ran back home at the speed of sound. He would've used Chaos Control, but he barely pulled it off the first time, and he preferred the feeling of running to warping.

It wasn't long before Sonic returned to his home at last, holding the emerald in his hand. By that point, the thunder and lightning had long since stopped and so had the rain, which had only started falling after he gave Amy that kiss, as if the weather itself was sympathizing with him. He shuddered at the memory of it, and opened the door with a carefree smile, eager to get started on lunch and then reach the most exciting part of the adventure.

By the time Sonic had returned home, Metal Sonic had calmed himself down, no longer having horrible flashbacks because the lightning storm had ended. So when Sonic walked into the house saying with a smile, " Don't ask me how, but I managed to get it! The seventh Chaos Emerald! " Metal Sonic was sitting on the couch reading an encyclopedia from the bookshelf nearby and Tails was sitting beside him watching TV, no longer being cold enough to require blankets around him. Tails said happily, " That's great! Now we have all of them! "

" Yep! And now I can get started on our lunch! Of course, we'll have to make it quick. How does peanut butter and jelly sandwiches sound? " Sonic said cheerfully. " Great! " Tails replied with a smile as Sonic put down the Chaos Emerald next to the front door. Tails went into the kitchen, eager for his lunch to be made.

" Hey, Metal! Like that encyclopedia, huh? " Sonic commented with a smile. " It is satisfactory. I've already read this one back at home base, but it does serve its purpose as a method of alleviating boredom, " Metal Sonic replied. " You know, Tails read it, too, a while ago! It was the first book he ever read when I first brought him home to live with me! You two have similar tastes. You both like nonfiction a lot! Anyhoo, me and my little bro are gonna have lunch in the kitchen. You can join us if you want. I know you don't eat, but that doesn't mean you should be excluded from the group! Besides, you being there will cut down on the time we spend thinking up a plan for rescuing old Egghead! " Sonic said cheerfully.

Metal Sonic tried not to sigh when he heard that. He knew that he was probably going to have to explain to Sonic and Tails why he wasn't going to be joining their side permanently, and he was certain they weren't going to take it well.

" You are correct. We _should_ be discussing a plan. SWORD's base is protected by highly dangerous threats and we need to make preparations for dealing with them, " Metal Sonic replied immediately so as to hide the train of thought he was on from Sonic. " You must be really looking forward to it, Metal! " he said with excitement as Metal sat at the kitchen table next to Tails. Sonic was looking forward to the challenge and danger of storming SWORD's base. Metal Sonic let out a sigh of weariness and said unhappily, " Let's just get this over with. The sooner I rescue Metal Knuckles, Orbot and Cubot, the better. I don't want to be separated from them any longer than I have to. Not rescuing them isn't an option for me. I could _never_ abandon them. "

Sonic and Tails nodded sympathetically. " I wouldn't wanna be separated from my friends either, " Sonic said sympathetically, and Tails said, " Me neither. We understand. " Metal Sonic held back another sigh of unhappiness, being certain that they wouldn't truly not hold it against him just because they knew _one_ reason for why he didn't feel like leaving Eggman's side was worth it.

Sonic said with a smile, " Well, look on the bright side, Metal. You may not be with them right now, but that doesn't mean you're all alone! As long as we're working together, we're like friends, too! I get it if you don't like that concept, but it's true. You've been a great teammate to us! You can be relied on and you can be trusted, and you didn't cause us any real trouble. You kept your word, Metal; you weren't an inconvenience. I know you'd rather be with your friends and so you can't wait to rescue them and go back to being with them, but it's not like you're _hated_ here, you know? This has been fun! And if you ever wanna do it again, give me a call. I doubt something like this will ever happen again, but just saying; if you ever want my help again, you're welcome anytime. " Tails nodded, smiling warmly at him; he still appreciated how he had saved his life, probably more than once, and even he had to admit that the adventure with him had been a lot better than he had expected.

Metal Sonic couldn't hold back a smile when hearing that heartwarming speech, even though it made it look like he had gone soft. Sonic had revealed to him that he understood that he was going back to Eggman's side after this and that it wouldn't change the fact that his opinion of him had improved. He wasn't going to hate him for leaving them after everything they've been through together, and neither was Tails. They both understood that he didn't want to abandon his friends just for the sake of not working for Eggman, and rather than finding him selfish and overly apathetic, they sympathized with him for caring about his comrades and being loyal to them, and he appreciated that, even though it made him worry that he had gone soft. He sighed in relief and said, " That's good. I was worried... "

He soon became nervous and embarrassed after saying that, since he had revealed his soft side and possibly implied that he didn't hate Sonic anymore. He appreciated the way Sonic was treating him, but he didn't want to look weak by making that too obvious, so he crossed his arms and tried to go back to his usual aloof and coldly logical demeanor to save face, saying with a serious expression,

" W-We should be discussing a plan. Carrying out the rescue mission will be difficult, and will be unlike anything you two have done before. We need to have a solid plan in mind to ensure the mission's success. While I acknowledge that Sonic usually has a 100% probability of success in the important tasks, especially with all of the emeralds at his disposal, that doesn't mean our victory is guaranteed. With _my_ luck, our chances of victory are _greatly_ _diminished_ simply by my being here. So while I _am_ carrying out a deed one could consider to be _heroic_ by trying to rescue people and stopping an idiotic world-changing plan in a similar manner to you, I still have reason to doubt that the universe will be on my side and allow things to happen in my favor, and working with its _favorite_ _person_ won't _change_ that. So we _have_ to think of a plan, and do _whatever_ _it_ _takes_ to _increase_ the likelihood that we'll successfully rescue them, because you can _never_ be too careful. "

Sonic couldn't help but be amused at a robot believing in luck and talking about the universe as if it were a sentient being dedicated to tormenting him and making the hero of the world succeed, while Tails was intrigued by it and took it as proof that his AI really was as advanced as a human or Mobian brain if he was able to understand such concepts and believe in them. But rather than comment on it and risk annoying him, they decided to discuss a plan with him instead.

Sonic said cheerfully, " You're right, Metal! So while we figure out how to go about it, I'm gonna make some lunch for me and my little bro! " ruffled Tails' hair and got started on making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for him and Tails, pulling out the ingredients to do so. Metal Sonic stated with a serious expression,

" The base is surrounded by dangers ranging from _electrified walls_ to a security system with surveillance cameras in the base to spying robotic hummingbirds that will see us coming long before we see them, to anti-aircraft machine guns on the ground below. Tails, your skill as an engineer is _required_ for us to deal with all this. Your plane can take out the security system, the robotic hummingbirds, the _extremely dangerous walls_ and the anti-aircraft machines with the weapons built into it, but we will need more than that to storm the base successfully. So, since you're the most intelligent person in the room and the one who _builds_ such necessary things, what do _you_ suggest? "

Tails couldn't help but smile at Metal Sonic nonchalantly complimenting him again - so nonchalantly that he probably didn't realize he was doing it - and said, trying to look confident when he really wasn't, " W-Well, those birds must be able to see our plane from a _really_ long distance if they were able to spot us even though I turned around the plane and went home before flying over the base. If they're gonna have such an early alert to us, they're gonna throw everything they can at us before we're even _ready,_ so the best way to ensure our success is to get there without being spotted. Now I know what you're thinking, how could a plane flying over an area not be spotted? Well, something I've been working on recently is, well, a cloaking device for the Tornado-1. Of course, I used the mystical power of a Chaos Emerald for making something like that, which isn't exactly new for me, but it's still something I threw together and i-it's mostly scientific. "

" Well, that's a _lot_ better than anything _Eggman_ ever made. That invention sounds like it will be useful _long_ after the mission has been completed! If I were you, I would use that device as much as physically possible; there's no reason you shouldn't, since the idiot can't send his mechs to attack you in the sky if he can't see your plane to begin with, " Metal Sonic said, trying to sound nonchalant and aloof with his arms crossed so that he could express his approval of Tails' brilliant invention without looking like he had gone soft. Sonic smiled at the sight while Tails smiled nervously from appreciating the compliment and being too insecure to believe it.

" W-Well, the problem is that it can only have a limited amount of energy stored in it. I can send energy from the Chaos Emeralds into it to recharge it to 100%, but I can only use it for a certain amount of time before it runs out of energy. I think I should turn it on 15 minutes before flying right up to the actual base; we don't how far away those birds can see us from, so we should be careful just in case, and 15 minutes means it won't run out of energy before we reach the base itself while still being useful for as long as we need it, " Tails said nervously as Sonic gave him his lunch and started eating his.

" That sounds perfect, I don't see a flaw. Granted, perfection is a logical impossibility, but it seems that way to me. So after we attack the outside of the base and eliminate the threat of their _electrified_ _walls,_ anti-aircraft weaponry, and cut off their security system and surveillance system, I will fly down to the base with nothing left to attack me, and Sonic, after using all of the emeralds to achieve a more powerful and invincible form, will fly into the base in a similar manner. Meanwhile, you will continue flying around the base shooting at it with the plane invisible to keep you safe; when Sonic is finished, he will require your plane to return home, and you have to be nearby for him to do that. If your cloaking device is about to run out of energy, I suggest flying as far away as you can and landing the plane north of the base to wait for him. I am not aware of the base's layout and we have no method of finding it out, so Sonic and I will have to fly through the base's interior as fast as possible hoping we find a map; it will probably be in the room where SWORD's information is kept. Once we find it, I'll take a picture of the map with my mind to save it to memory, and use my navigational skills to guide Sonic to the cell; he'll have to move at a slower speed so that he will be able to follow me. Any security doors will be easily bypassed by my own abilities or Super Sonic boosting through it, and we'll dodge any bullets or lasers shot at us with our reflexes. Our destination will be the cell where Orbot, Cubot, Metal Knuckles and the idiot are being held, and we will waste _no_ _time_ in getting there to liberate them. Sonic, once we reach it, we'll have to split up. I'll tell you the directions to the room where the idiot's _airship_ is being stored so you can get it outside the base to be used, " Metal Sonic replied.

Tails offered, " I could give you a piece of paper so that you could write down the directions for him! That way, he won't forget them and get lost. " Metal Sonic replied, " That would be useful, " which caused Tails to smile, run at slightly less than the speed of sound out of the room to get a small piece of paper and pencil, come back in less than a second in a yellow blur and hand it to him. Metal Sonic quickly returned to explaining the plan he had come up with after taking the piece of paper and pencil in his right hand.

" The airship would still be functional because it would logically have been fixed after being brought down by SWORD so that they could use it for themselves. I'm _not_ looking forward to the escort mission that I'll be doing after you leave, but I'll have to do it regardless. I'll get them out of the base safely and into the airship outside. The airship _must_ be to the _south_ of the base far away from where the Tornado-1 would be. Since it's noon, the sun's in the north, so it should be easy to figure out which way's south. "

Tails said with an insecure smile, " I-I have a stun gun you could use to make the escort mission easier! I-It'll knock the soldiers out for an hour non-lethally and it has infinite ammo! You, you could use that. " Metal Sonic smiled in satisfaction, letting himself show his approval of the kid even though it could make him look weak, and said, " Excellent! I'll just tell the idiot that I stole it from you, and then return it when I'm done with it so he won't take advantage of it. " Tails smiled.

Metal Sonic sighed wearily upon getting to the hard part of the plan, hoping Sonic would understand, and said, " Once you've landed the airship, I need you to return to Tails without waiting for me and fly home in the Tornado-1 as fast as possible. As I explained to you when I first requested this alliance, I do _not_ have permission from my _idiot_ _boss_ to have you or anyone supporting you helping me. I was expected to go alone; how he thought I was capable of rescuing him from a heavily guarded base with no assistance or preparation is beyond me, but that's besides the point. Eggman's plan to attack SWORD and take its weaponry and intelligence was supposed to be a secret, so just the act of me telling you about it in the first place would be considered an act of treason, and he would only reward my efforts with a punishment. Worst case scenario, he'll try to reprogram me to admire him, and I refuse to have a major part of my identity altered like that! "

Sonic said with a carefree smile, " So you need to take all the credit? _No problemo!_ It'll be like we weren't even there! " Worried, Metal Sonic asked for clarification, " You really have no problem with it? " Sonic replied cheerfully, " It's not a big deal! I don't just do heroic things for the fame of it, after all, although that _is_ a factor. As long as I know that SWORD's plans are gonna be stopped, it doesn't matter to me if old Egghead doesn't know I helped with it! Although I don't know why you're so worried about him reprogramming you. If it really got to that point, you could just leave _his_ side and come to _us!_ We wouldn't let him do that to you! Sure, it'd be kinda tricky getting used to the change, but it's better than being brainwashed, right? "

Relieved, Metal Sonic reluctantly said, " _Yes,_ it _is._ It wouldn't exactly be _easy_ for me, since I'd be _separated_ from my _comrades_ and I can't go out in public without causing a panic, but, as difficult as it is for me to _say_ this, I'd rather join your side than be brainwashed by Eggman, _especially_ if it robs me of my free will. So if my creator ever plans to do that to me, I will seriously consider it... " Sonic and Tails smiled warmly at hearing that.

" I-I would prefer to live alone, however, although contact with you would still be needed, _especially_ since I would be unable to obtain books from the library _myself._ As long as I have books, I'll be satisfied. U-Uh, but let's not get ahead of ourselves, here. That is an _unlikely_ _scenario_ as long as I'm careful enough, so we should discuss this if it actually transpires, although I do believe in planning for every possibility, " he continued nervously, with his nervousness increasing by the end of it by a significant degree.

Sonic and Tails smiled at him saying he preferred joining their side over being brainwashed into admiring Eggman, and couldn't help but be proud of him and find it heartwarming, even if Eggman trying to do that to him was unlikely to actually happen after years of him not doing it. It could be impossible to convince the world to trust Metal Sonic, so they might never be able to get him to start fighting Eggman in public like they did, and it was starting to sound like all Metal Sonic wanted was to spend his life reading books, not be a hero. But it was still better than him wanting to carry out his own evil plans, so they were proud of him nevertheless.

Changing the subject, Sonic said after finishing his lunch, " So, I've been meaning to ask you, Metal. Why did Eggman attack SWORD in the first place? How did he even know about them? " Metal Sonic said with a serious but worried expression, " Do you promise not to tell anyone? " Sonic and Tails nodded with one of their palms facing him in a " promising " gesture. He sighed, hoping Eggman wouldn't find out, and said,

" Let me explain. SWORD was the opposite to GUN in the Cold War. It was just as powerful as GUN, and served the same basic purpose. 50 years ago, SWORD and GUN competed for domination of the world, with SWORD trying to get every country they could to become communist and GUN trying to ensure that every country they could reach would carry out political decisions the way _they_ wanted them to. Unfortunately, while GUN was trying to uphold democracy, that didn't mean they were completely in the right. They were self-righteous to the point where they did everything they could to prevent a country from becoming communist or allied with the communists, and sometimes this involved overthrowing democratically elected governments and replacing them with their own handpicked _dictators_ who would act as _puppet_ _rulers_ for _them._ While GUN was better than SWORD was, it still wasn't completely in the right. We all know what they did to _Shadow,_ don't we? No wonder I don't trust them. "

Sonic and Tails nodded unhappily, with their worried expressions from not approving of GUN's actions hiding the fact that they were proud of Metal Sonic for finding GUN's actions to be evil and morally reprehensible. " All of us are aware of how that affected Shadow, but comparatively few are aware of how it affected Eggman. Gerald Robotnik's execution by GUN caused the parents of Eggman to become paranoid anarchists and survivalists for the rest of their _lives,_ and they told him to be against the government and to not trust it in any sense, raising him to believe that his destiny was to use his intelligence to overthrow the corrupt governments of the world in favor of his own. They told him that the _only_ way he could truly be safe was to isolate himself from the government, break their laws, and live off the grid. This was the major reason for why he turned out the way he did! He grew up hating GUN because of what they did to his grandfather, and this eventually developed into a desire to get rid of them by taking over the world. The fact that he was always a narcissist was also a factor. But while he hated GUN, that didn't mean he supported SWORD. You see, the truth is, _Gerald_ _Robotnik,_ had actually worked for _SWORD_ before he defected to _GUN._ "

Sonic and Tails looked shocked and confused at hearing that. Metal Sonic explained, " He was their top engineer, until he discovered some classified information that revealed to him just how much suffering the government caused the people of Holoska. It was him discovering that SWORD wasn't truly as righteous as it claimed that caused SWORD to come after him for execution despite _everything_ he had done for them, and it caused him to join GUN at the quickest opportunity, with GUN faking some documents so that they could have SWORD's top engineer working for them. Gerald Robotnik told Eggman's parents exactly why he had defected from SWORD, and it was because of this that Eggman developed a grudge against them. He never hated them as much as GUN, but he still wanted to get revenge against them at any opportunity. Because of this, it is only logical that he would've tried to storm their base as soon as he located it. Taking their robots and weaponry was only a very minor part of his plan. What he was truly after, was the information on what Gerald Robotnik had done for them and what they planned to do to him. He wanted to expose to the world how they had treated his grandfather in the hopes of them being dissolved as an organization, not approving of how SWORD had fallen obscure and had its reputation improved from becoming a GUN affiliate. That was why he tried to storm the base. But he was unaware of how prepared they were for his attack. He was unaware that GUN had warned SWORD that he would come after them for revenge someday, and that they had made their own plans that they would carry out as soon as he came to them. "

Sonic and Tails nodded. Sonic said with a smile, " We're not gonna have to worry about SWORD's plans succeeding, because with us fighting against them, with all of the seven Chaos Emeralds, we're guaranteed to win! " and the two of them finished the last of their lunch with their next bite.

" Now that we're done lunch, it's finally time to go to that base and stop their plans for good! Looks like our adventure is coming to an end. Come on, guys! " Sonic said before running at the speed of sound to Tails' Workshop, being a little unhappy that his adventure with Metal Sonic was coming to an end so soon and hiding it with a cheerful smile.

Tails and Metal Sonic followed Sonic to the workshop, where he was taking all of the Chaos Emeralds and putting them into the trunk of the plane to be used later. As the two of them helped him with the task to speed things along, Sonic commented cheerfully, " I've absorbed a lot of Ring Energy without losing any in this adventure, so I'll be able to maintain my super form a _lot_ _longer_ than I ever did before! So it looks like this will be a piece of cake! "

After everyone had finished taking the Chaos Emeralds into the trunk of the Tornado-1, thankful that the plane had a trunk because there wasn't enough room in the front and back seats for them, they got into the plane. Sonic jumped onto the wing of the plane, Tails got into the pilot's seat with his stun gun in his hand and buckled himself in before checking to see if everything was working properly as usual, and Metal Sonic got into the back seat and put on his seatbelts, tightening them just in case.

After that, the plane started moving, reached the end of the runway and started flying through the sky, and the hour-long flight to Siberia, Holoska had begun. Tails had already made the calculations in his head for how long he should wait before turning on the cloaking device of the plane. The cloaking device worked by creating a force field around the plane that made anything inside it completely transparent from the outside, projecting an image of what was on the opposite side of it from all directions. Of course, the magic of a Chaos Emerald was necessary for it to do something like that, as well as the amount of electricity produced by one. So when the cloaking device was activated, it wasn't just the plane that was made invisible to onlookers; it was everyone in it, as well. From the perspective of everyone in the plane, nothing had happened, but Tails reassured them that from outside of that force field, they could not be seen by any person, robotic hummingbird, or radar. They were safe. Of course, the Tornado-1 shooting at the base would give away the fact that it was there, but since it would still be invisible, it would be nearly impossible to shoot at it with any anti-aircraft weaponry without missing.

The flight lasted an hour, and while Sonic tried to pass the time by cheerfully bantering with Tails, Metal Sonic was going over the plan in his head over and over again and thinking of exactly what he would do, preparing himself for the hardest mission of his life. He was especially dreading the escort mission, and was thankful that Tails' stun gun would allow him to deal with the soldiers shooting at him. He wouldn't be able to fly through the hallways quickly with Eggman following him, so the escort mission was the perfect time for the stun gun. He wasn't going to need it on the way to the cell, since he could just reflexively dodge anything shot at him after hearing and/or seeing it coming, but he wouldn't be able to dodge anything during an escort mission.

After an entire hour, the Tornado-1 finally reached SWORD's base. Metal Sonic hated the presence of the electrified walls, and was thankful that Tails was going to shoot them apart with his plane. Tails did the job perfectly, flying the plane around the base in a wide circle while shooting at the security system, electrified walls and anti-aircraft machines on the ground with the machine guns, missiles and other weapons in the plane. Metal Sonic couldn't help but wonder how Sonic could keep himself from falling off the plane's wing with all the turbulence and the plane turning so much, not thinking that him being accustomed to the wind was a good enough explanation, and quickly attributed it to his luck. Sonic was lucky, and that reassured him. Everything was going to work out perfectly.

Tails flew the plane around the base shooting at all of its defenses and destroying them, not having to worry too much about dodging bullets and lasers because of the plane's cloaking device; the soldiers were shooting randomly in every direction, with all of the anti-aircraft machines firing at once in every which way in a desperate attempt to shoot the invisible target. It only took a few minutes for all of the base's defenses to be destroyed. Sonic gave Tails a hi-five while he and him cheered, with Metal Sonic nodding in approval with his arms crossed.

" Here's the stun gun, Metal... Good luck... " Tails said to Metal Sonic with a sad smile that tried to hide how unhappy he was that the adventure was coming to an end. He was worried that this would be the last time Metal Sonic would ever be on his side. He handed Metal Sonic the dark blue stun gun. " Thank you. You have been _extremely_ helpful for the mission, Tails. But now the mission is nearing its completion. Thank you for everything... and farewell, " Metal Sonic said to him melancholically, in a serious tone that unsuccessfully tried to mask his unhappiness and his soft side. He wondered if this would be the last time he and Tails would ever work together, and was annoyed with himself for being saddened by that thought. Tails was a sweet kid, and he was going to miss working with him.

As Metal Sonic took the stun gun and thanked Tails, Sonic opened the trunk of the plane, and jumped into it, standing in the center of a circle of Chaos Emeralds to absorb their power from being in close proximity to all of them at once. The mystical power of the Chaos Emeralds was absorbed into his aura and filled it with their energy, causing him to go into the invincible form of his that he had used against Eggman time and time again. With the Ring Energy of the thousands of Rings that were absorbed into his aura as he ran through places like Green Hill Zone looking for emeralds, Sonic would be able to maintain his super form for far longer than usual, and he was thankful for that. The Chaos Emeralds seemed to disappear after their energy was absorbed into him, changing from a solid state to an energy state as they fused with his energy field temporarily, and Sonic was finally ready for storming the base.

After nodding to each other that they were ready, Metal Sonic and Sonic flew down to the base below at the speed of sound, with Sonic being slightly faster than sound, and as they flew into the exposed entrance to the base that had its steel front door destroyed, Tails kept flying his plane around the base shooting at it from every direction as instructed, making sure every so often to look at the gauge he installed on his plane to keep track of the cloaking device's amount of energy.

Sonic and Metal Sonic flew through the white hallways of the base so fast that they were a yellow and blue blur, turning when the hallway turned and flying to the side to dodge any soldiers or agents that were in the halls. They flew into the entrance to every room they saw, searching every room of the base at high speed to try and locate the information room or Eggman's cell. As they were speeding through the base, the soldiers and agents they passed by panicked and called the information room warning the agents there that Metal Sonic and Super Sonic were flying through the base's hallways, seemingly unstoppable. They got past any steel doors with their own abilities, such as Metal Sonic's boost letting him create hot enough fire to melt the obstruction or Super Sonic ramming through it, and since Tails had destroyed the power lines giving the security system its own electricity to run off of, SWORD didn't even have the benefit of a security system or functioning surveillance cameras to help them.

When they happened upon the room where Eggman's mechs were being reprogrammed, they destroyed every last one of them as the programmers fled in terror, with Metal Sonic not having a problem with it because since they were mindless mechs who had no personality rather than having his advanced AI, they were nothing more than machines. When they reached the room where the scientists of SWORD were putting the finishing touches on a brainwashing serum for Eggman, they destroyed everything in it in a blur, with Sonic being outraged that they would try to rob someone of their free will and freedom to the point of not hesitating at all at going on a rampage. They flew through the base, circumventing its interior as they searched the part of it furthest from the center before going into the more central hallways and circumventing those, flying at high speeds in a counter-clockwise direction as they went into every room in the base one by one.

Everyone in the base was soon called on their cell phones by anyone witnessing Sonic and Metal flying past them, with every agent and soldier being warned about the infiltrators, but it didn't truly matter, because whenever someone tried to pinpoint their locations based off what the soldiers or agents calling them had said, Sonic and Metal had already moved far from that location.

When two black-suited agents of SWORD walked into the cell room of Eggman with two soldiers behind them, they were all surprised when their cell phones rang at nearly the exact same time, with their ringtones - various songs they had heard on the radio - distracting them and making them answer the calls. All of them were shocked at what they were told, and looked panicked as a result. The brown-haired agent shut the cell door in a panic and yelled out, " Metal Sonic is here! " much to the excitement of Metal Knuckles, who cheered, " YAY! HE'S HERE! HE'S HERE! He's come to save us! See, Daddy, I _told_ _you_ he'd come! " while Cubot and Orbot jumped for joy and celebrated.

The agents and soldiers looked at Eggman quizzically, who had a smile on his face. Eggman chuckled lightly and said in amusement, " Normally I'd scold you for calling me your father again... " and said while smirking at the agents and soldiers in satisfaction, " But I'm in such a good mood that I'll let it slide. " The agents and soldiers looked panicked and frightened, knowing that Metal Sonic was going to show up any second to rescue Eggman and the three robots with him, and they would be expected to attempt to stop him; key word being attempt, since they knew that their bullets and lasers would be easily dodged and for all they knew, the robot was going to kill them for simply being there.

Meanwhile, Metal Knuckles, Cubot and Orbot were cheering, expressing tremendous joy at the fact that Metal Sonic had come to save them at last, and Eggman was laughing in satisfaction; they had been told after yesterday's interrogation that the brainwashing serum was only one day away from completion, so they knew that if Metal Sonic hadn't shown up at that exact time, they would've been taken away to be brainwashed - and for Cubot and Orbot, murdered - right after they were interrogated. They were overjoyed at Metal Sonic coming to save them just in time, while at the same time, not being surprised that he came to rescue them at all. They knew he cared about them.

After a couple of minutes, Metal Sonic and Sonic reached the information room at last, and after scaring away the agents in it, they went up to a computer and Metal Sonic sat in the seat in front of it, thankful that the agent using it hadn't logged off because he had left in a panic; because of this, Metal didn't have to do any hacking at all. He moved the computer mouse around, clicking when he needed to, and quickly brought up the map of the base. The hallways of the map were light blue, while the empty space was dark blue and the lines showing the walls of the base were another shade of blue. The map was too big to fit on one computer screen without making the text on it too small to read, so Metal Sonic clicked an icon on the screen that brought the image of the map to a gigantic computer screen in the room - that feature was probably used in PowerPoint presentations - looked over at the image, and proceeded to memorize it.

He visualized the Save to Memory icon in the bottom left corner of his field of vision, bringing it up in his mind's eye, and imagined it darkening as if it had been clicked, and the icon disappeared, and he had successfully saved the image to memory, taking a picture of it with his mind. From Sonic's perspective, Metal Sonic had simply looked at the map on the gigantic computer screen with a serious and focused expression, and then apparently " blinked " with his red eyes disappearing and reappearing, and Sonic couldn't help but be amazed at just what that robot was capable of. He thought, " _He can do a lot more than just fight, that's for sure,_ " with an impressed smile as he watched Metal Sonic.

Working at the speed of sound, Metal Sonic visualized the Load Saved Picture icon in the corner of his field of vision, imagined it being clicked, and an image of various icons in his mind's eye in a bar at the bottom of his field of vision showed up, with almost every one having a number on it, with the exception of the leftmost one, which stated Most Recent. He imagined that icon being clicked, and brought up the saved image of the map to his mind's eye. He visualized the Create a Copy icon and imagined it being clicked, copying the image so that he could alter it without the original image being altered, and then studied the image, determining from the text on it where he was and the best path to Eggman's cell. After he had figured it out, analyzing the image in his mind's eye, he visualized the hallway he was planning to fly through turning red as opposed to the light blue color it was before, and visualized Eggman's cell turning red and the room he was currently in turning orange.

He visualized the Back icon appearing and being clicked so that he could look around the room he was in and face the entrance he had gone through, and visualized the Return icon appearing and being clicked to bring the image back to his mind's eye. He compared what he had seen with the map in his mind and visualized a tiny dark blue arrow pointing in the direction he was facing appearing at the exact location he was on the map. He walked a few steps forwards and imagined the blue arrow moving in the same way, successfully telling the program in his CPU to make the arrow move through the map the same way he did. This way, he could keep track of where in the base he was.

" I have successfully determined the quickest route to Eggman's cell, " he stated with a serious expression, not being cocky or prideful about his abilities as a robot. Then, he visualized the map flipping to the side to account for Sonic facing forwards with his back to the cell door later, and quickly figured out the quickest route to the room where Eggman's airship was being stored.

He returned to seeing what was actually around him as he did before, thought about how he was going to explain the directions to Sonic, and wrote the explanation down on a piece of paper with the pencil as short and concisely as possible while still being understandable, using the desk in front of the computer as a hard surface for the paper to be on. He handed it to Sonic afterwards. Sonic took note of the fact that his handwriting looked just like Sonic's only much neater, as if he had at one point practiced writing for hours on end with the intention of getting better handwriting than him. The instructions consisted of sentences like, " Go down the hall to the left and take the third right, " and, " if you've reached the interrogation rooms, you've gone too far. " Sonic smiled and gave him a thumbs-up, understanding the instructions.

" Follow me, " Metal Sonic said with a serious expression, and flew out of the room at the speed of sound, with Sonic flying behind him at a slower than usual speed to be able to follow him; he was still in his super form, with plenty of Ring Energy left. Sonic was impressed by Metal Sonic's navigation skills as he flew through the hallways as if he knew exactly where to go. It was certainly different from when they were going through the hallways before; now that Metal knew where to go, he was taking a lot more turns than before, going to the center of the base instead of simply circling around it. They continued dodging agents, soldiers, and their attacks as they flew through the hallways, with Sonic being focused on following Metal Sonic as he went down the quickest route to the cell, with the image of the map and the arrow showing his location on it regularly appearing in his mind's eye, him processing the data, and the image disappearing just as quickly as it appeared in order for him to continue seeing what was actually around him.

It only took a few minutes for them to reach Eggman's cell at last. They stopped in front of a very large white steel door with a retina scanner in front of it. Metal Sonic turned to Sonic and said melancholically, " Well, you remember what to do next... Farewell, Sonic the Hedgehog... " and added quietly under his breath, " And thank you, " which Sonic chose not to tell him he heard. Sonic smiled, and gave him a thumbs-up before flying away faster than the speed of sound, focusing on following the directions written down for him.

Metal Sonic faced the cell door at an angle, not wanting to attack it from the front for fear that the attack would hit the prisoners inside of it; this way, his attack would go through the door and hit the left wall of the cell instead of anyone inside. He fired a large red laser from his chest, destroying the steel door and reducing it to rubble.

Inside of the cell were two agents of SWORD as well as two soldiers, both of whom were shaking and quivering in fear while holding their useless guns up to shoot him, as well as Eggman, Metal Knuckles, Cubot and Orbot, who looked happy and excited at seeing him and cheered. Not wasting a second, Metal Sonic shot the agents and soldiers with the stun gun, pulling the trigger each of the four times at the speed of sound so that it looked like he shot four at once, and they all fell unconscious immediately, falling to the floor asleep. Metal Sonic smiled in satisfaction and explained to Eggman, " I stole it from Tails, " to avoid suspicion.

Metal Knuckles cheered and hugged him, saying happily, " I KNEW YOU'D SAVE US! " and he gratefully returned the hug, so thankful that his brother wasn't harmed or worse that he didn't care about looking like he had gone soft. Cubot and Orbot cheered and exclaimed, " MY HERO! " and jumped for joy as Metal Knuckles ended the hug giggling happily, and Eggman smiled in approval at him, saying, " I knew you'd succeed in rescuing us! Excellent work, Metal Sonic! You know, a part of me was worried that you were just going to leave me here so you could go off on your own, but your actions today have proven to me that you can be trusted. You'll never go rogue again! You've proven your loyalty, and I'm proud of you. Of course, I was already extremely proud of you before, but now I'm even more proud! Good job! " Metal Sonic smiled in satisfaction, showing how grateful he was for the appreciation while hiding the fact that he was annoyed by Eggman calling him loyal to him.

" I'll escort you all out of the base while using the stun gun on any agents or soldiers in the vicinity. I have ensured that your airship would be waiting for us due south of the base; SWORD had repaired it to use it for themselves, and I took the liberty of taking it back from them. First, allow me to determine the best route out of the base, " Metal Sonic said in a serious tone, being nonchalant and emotionless about his plan rather than cocky about it like he would've been when he was first built. Eggman nodded, and Metal Sonic brought the map back to his mind's eye, made the red hallway blue again, determined the quickest route to the base's exit, and visualized that the route was now red. He returned to seeing things around him normally, and nodded at Eggman. The escort mission was about to begin.

As Metal Sonic used his navigational skills to guide Eggman, Metal Knuckles, Cubot and Orbot out of the base while using a stun gun to knock out any soldiers and agents trying to attack them, Sonic was flying through the base at slightly over the speed of sound following the directions he was given by Metal Sonic. It was only a few minutes before he reached the airship room at last. When he did, he pressed a button that caused the ceiling of the room to open up and expose the sky, found his way into the control room of Eggman's airship, and felt a lot of pressure. He said nervously, " Uh, okay, um, I can do this. I used to fly a plane before Tails came along! Took me months to get used to the controls, but... Ugh, what am I gonna do?! I can barely fly a biplane, let alone an airship! I wish I could just call Tails on a cell phone and get _him_ to fly the airship instead! I don't even know where he is! "

" Right here! " Tails said cheerfully, revealing he was in the airship the whole time. Sonic gasped happily and hugged him, saying, " TAILS! Thank goodness you're here! " Tails returned the hug, and when it ended, he said with a smile, " I figured you'd need some help with this. Besides, flying around the base shooting at it when there was nothing left to shoot at was getting boring. So I left the plane with the cloaking device on parked to the north of the base. Don't worry, I know _exactly_ where it is. I'll fly this for you! "

Tails sat down on the chair in the control room, put on the seatbelt just in case, and quickly figured out how to activate the airship's reverse magnets and rocket propellers that would make it " float " up out of the airship room and start flying through the sky to just south of the base. Tails did exactly as he wanted perfectly, with Sonic being incredibly proud of him.

" We did it, pal... Now let's get back to the plane. You'll give me the directions, okay? " Sonic said, still in his super form. Tails nodded, and Sonic lifted him into his arms and flew out of the airship around the base and to the north as fast as he could, getting to the plane long before Eggman had escaped the base.

When they finally reached the plane, Sonic and Tails got into it, and sighed, partially in relief from the adventure being over and completed without a hitch, and partially from them being incredibly melancholic that possibly the only adventure where Metal Sonic would be on their side was already over. It only took a few seconds for Sonic's super form wore off, with his running out of Ring Energy causing the energy of the Chaos Emeralds to finally escape from being in his aura and be projected outwards to return to their solid forms after reaching their new locations, being scattered around the world again. Sonic sighed, knowing he was going to have to look for the green Chaos Emerald for Shadow, and since the emerald locater required an emerald to work, finding one emerald to look for the others would not be easy.

" I guess Metal Sonic meant we had to wait until _after_ the airship left before I flew the plane out of here? " Tails asked after a silence. Sonic said, " Yeah, that's probably what he wanted. If both the airship _and_ our plane are in the sky at the same time, we run the risk of Eggman seeing us in the sky. Sure, we'll be flying in opposite directions and thus not facing each other... " Tails said with a sad smile, " But you can never be too careful... " Sonic sighed unhappily and replied,

" Yeah... I can't believe it's over already... " Already missing Metal Sonic, Tails nodded and said sadly, " Me, neither. This adventure was a lot better than I thought it would be. I can't believe it's already come to an end... What if it's the only time Metal Sonic will have ever been on our side? What if it was really goodbye? Will we be able to handle him being sent to hurt us again? "

Trying to comfort him, Sonic placed his hand on Tails' shoulder and reassured him, " Eggman hasn't sent Metal Sonic to fight us or anything in years. I don't think we'll have to worry about that. Besides, even if he _does_ get those orders and carries them out, it won't mean that this adventure meant nothing to him. Don't you remember the way he thanked you for all your help today? He's clearly gotten a lot of respect for you, and considering how I've been nicer to him in the past two days than I _ever_ was, he's probably gotten respect for me, too! That's not all gonna go away! It's something permanent. It's something you remember... So yeah, if his so-called ' idiot boss ' tells him to fight me or whatever, then sure, he'll follow his orders, but it'll be because he feels forced to. It won't mean nothing has changed. Something has changed between us, little bro. I can feel it. "

Tails smiled warmly, and as he watched Eggman's newest Egg Carrier fly into the sky above the base with the sun to his back, he said, " Sonic, I've been meaning to tell you... When you were trying to get the last emerald from Shadow, I asked Metal Sonic why he liked Shadow so much, and he told me that Eggman sent him on a mission with Shadow to stop Eggman Nega from destroying the world with that fire elemental, the Ifrit. Shadow never insulted him or showed reluctance to work with him or anything like that! He treated him like a trusted friend, relying on him and agreeing to let him help without hesitation. He even asked Metal Sonic if he was okay at one point, and from what Metal told me, it meant a lot to him, because that was the first time anyone not on Eggman's side had asked him if he was okay. And at the end of the adventure, when Shadow and him were trapped in the Ifrit's dimension and needed a Chaos Emerald to get out of it, well, it turned out that before sending him to Shadow, Eggman had put a Chaos Emerald in Metal Sonic as a power source while also replacing his ability to speak with loudspeakers that let him transmit his voice to Shadow, so in order for him and Shadow to get back home, Metal Sonic had to get the Chaos Emerald out of his chest. " Sonic cringed and commented, " Must have been painful! "

Tails continued, " It was! But he couldn't explain to Shadow what he was doing, and while he was doing it, Shadow actually got concerned and said to stop because he was destroying himself, and it meant a lot to him! No one not on Eggman's side had ever shown that they didn't want him to be destroyed before... That was why he got such a high opinion of Shadow. He went on an entire adventure with him that showed him what it was like being his friend, and he got to see a whole new side of him. He was treated like an ally instead of an enemy, and he was shown compassion by someone not on Eggman's side, and it meant a lot to him. Don't you see? We've done that exact same thing with Metal Sonic! So of course something's changed! It happened with Shadow, and now it's happened with us. "

Sonic smiled, and said, " You're right, little bro. Things have gotten better. I can tell. " He knew that Metal Sonic was still going to have some difficulty with him because of the fact that he was based off him, but he could tell that things had gotten better between the two of them. The adventure was a good thing, for him, Tails, and Metal Sonic, and neither of them would ever forget it. " Come on, little buddy. Let's go home. "


End file.
